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).
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9 comments:
When did Wilfred Brimley become the Eagles coach?
They will vote yes because some members of the Monroe board don't want to decide a legal issue. That is for the courts to do. I am wondering why those members are there if they don't want to make the decisions.
These guys are all paid off by KJ and all they care about is getting re-elected. Wake up Monroe!
This is from the THR.
Anti-Hasidic bigotry accusations leveled
Monroe, Woodbury at odds over KJ annexation
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By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 10/03/12
The Monroe Town Board has approved a seemingly minor annexation request that two Woodbury boards rejected, setting the stage for a possible court fight over an issue that has rekindled anxiety about Kiryas Joel expanding and provoked accusations of anti-Hasidic bigotry.
Developer Zigmond Brach and the Village of Kiryas Joel jointly petitioned in May for Monroe to annex roughly 14 acres in neighboring Woodbury. The property consists mostly of undeveloped land that Brach owns and includes a half-acre parcel where Kiryas Joel has erected two water storage tanks.
In separate votes last month, officials representing the Town of Woodbury and the Village of Woodbury unanimously opposed the request. In its rejection, village officials listed numerous technical and substantive reasons, including the prospect that Brach would develop the land at much greater density in Monroe than Woodbury's zoning allows.
The Monroe Town Board voted 5-0 in support of the petition Monday night, declaring that "the property owners appear to face outright hostility" in Woodbury and are more likely to get "fair treatment" in Monroe. Its decision quoted comments made at a public hearing in July, including one about "our friendly bearded neighbors who seek to reshape our village borders."
Monroe Councilman Harley Doles said Tuesday that his board supported the request because "we have a duty to make sure everybody is able to play on the same playing field."
Under state law, Monroe can ask a state appeals court to review the case and approve the requested border shift. Doles said the board hasn't discussed whether to do so.
Woodbury Councilman James Skoufis said opposition to the request was so strong because it was seen as a test case for future efforts to annex large land tracts such as 140-acre ACE Farm into Kiryas Joel to allow the continued development of multifamily housing.
"Whoever wins in court will have precedent on their side," Skoufis said.
He dismissed the suggestion of anti-Hasidic sentiment, saying that an annexation request must "be in the overall public interest, and I haven't heard any argument, compelling or otherwise, why this would be in Woodbury's interest."
Waaa Waaa! you won't let me take over your town so you must be prejudiced!!!
Doesn't the government in KJ realize that we can only be pushed so far? I am afraid of what may happen if the people of Orange county outside KJ reach their boiling point!
They will keep pushing and win because our town supervisor doesn't have a clue what to do and the mayor doesn't care, in fact he could probably sell the real estate in Woodbury to them!
Please vote for Skoufis!!!! This way we can get him the hell out of Woodbury!!!!
Skoufis....did you see his most recent flyer!!! Hope he likes low level politics, cause mailing out that kind of crap will NEVER win him the votes he will need to progress upward!! What a Dope!!!!
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