In The Public Interest?

The Monroe Town Board is about to vote to accept KJ's and Ziggy Brach's annexation petition.

And why shouldn't they, you might ask.  After all, it minutely increases Monroe's tax base.

Well, for starters the petition is legally deficient.  It makes no case for the annexation to go forward. 

And there is a good case to be made that, by claiming that there is no environmental impact, it is an example of segmentation, which is illegal under SEQRA.*

Further, Monroe's board (and Woodbury Town and Village Boards) must consider if the annexation is in the general public interest, not merely Monroe's.

So why does the Uncle expect the Monroe Town Board to vote yes?   Any guesses?

*Segemnation occurs when you deliberately break an action down into smaller parts in order to evade SEQRA (State Environmental Quality  Review Act).

Woodbury rejects annexation request

HIGHLAND MILLS — A request by the Village of Kiryas Joel and a member of the orthodox Satmar Jewish community to annex land from the town of Woodbury failed last week to win approval from the Woodbury Town Board.


Board members rejected the request to carve out more than a dozen acres of land from Woodbury, citing a lack of evidence that the annexation would result in a “unity of purposes and facilities,” according to the minutes.

The board also pointed to a suspicion that the proposed annexation was designed to bypass local laws and zoning rules of Woodbury in making their decision.

“We did tremendous due diligence and our conclusion was that annexation was not in the best interest of Woodbury,” Supervisor John Burke said. “We just felt we had a number of excellent reasons for the decision. One doesn’t stand out more than another.”

Of the five members on the Woodbury council, four voted against the request.

Councilman Frank Palermo, who was absent due to a personal matter, sent an e-mail to the council stating his opposition to the request for annexation, Burke said.

Zigmund Brach joined with the Village of Kiryas Joel this summer to try and annex some 12 to 14 acres of Brach’s land on the western side of a ridge occupied mostly by the citizens of Kiryas Joel.

Two large water towers serving Kiryas Joel sit on a half-acre portion of the property.

The petition requests the entire tract be annexed to the Town of Monroe, of which the village of Kiryas Joel is a part.

Members of the Monroe’s council have not yet voted on the request.

The 90-day window for the towns to decide on the request will lapse in the coming week, Burke said.

Should Monroe’s council vote in favor of the request, Brach and the Village of Kiryas Joel may appeal the Woodbury’s denial, Burke said.

“The two petitioners have a right to appeal if they are not happy with the vote,” Burke said. “If it’s appealed then we’ll decide how we want to be involved.”


By Joshua Rosenau - Photo News