MONROE – A vote by property
owners in the 164-acre section of the Town of Monroe to annex their land
into the Village of Kiryas Joel may have passed earlier this week, but
no transfer can take place until a State Supreme Court judge rules on
the challenges to the environmental review.
Officials of nine area municipalities opposed to any annexation into the
village issued a statement saying they are pleased that Justice Francesca
Connolly “saw the merits of our challenge” to the referendum
and ordered that it not move forward at this point.
The joint statement by government leaders in the towns of Blooming Grove,
Chester, Cornwall, and Woodbury, and the villages of Cornwall-on-Hudson,
Harriman, Monroe, South Blooming Grove and Woodbury said they share common
concerns with Orange County about the impact of the annexation on local
resources including to water and sewers and “the deficiencies in
the environmental review that was conducted in connection with the proposed
annexations.”
The communities and Orange County Government have jointly hired the New
York City law firm of Bryan Cave to challenge the petition to annex 507
and 164 acres from the Town of Monroe into the Village of Kiryas Joel.
