MONROE – An initial review by the United Monroe group of the Kiryas Joel environmental review adopted by the village board and made public Monday found that it is “a sham constructed to reach the desired, pre-ordained conclusion of no environmental harm,” according to the organization’s Michael Egan.
Egan said on Tuesday by the FEIS, “KJ’s developers plan to move forward to annex, change zoning, and build high-density housing for tens of thousands of new KJ residents on town of Monroe land currently zoned mostly for single-family homes.”
John Allegro said they believe KJ has its own agenda.
“We believed from the beginning that Kiryas Joel was doing to do whatever they could to move the process along to meet their ends as quickly as possible and sure enough, they didn’t take into consideration any of the legitimate questions that were asked during the SEQR process and essentially the request to project population out over a 35-year timeframe over a very short 10-year window,” Allegro said.
The United Monroe group “demands that the town board’s vote on these game-changing annexation petitions be transparent, inclusive, and accessible.” The group said the vote should be scheduled and publicized at least one week ahead of time and held in a venue that will accommodate the many hundreds of residents expected to attend and allow for public comment prior to the vote.
The KJ FEIS addressed the proposal to transfer 507 and a similar smaller
annexation of 164 acres.
