Annexation bills await governor's signature

| 18 Jun 2015 | 07:25

— Rarely has the old bromide that "all politics is local" sounded more true.

As the week draws to a close, a bill awaits Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature that would affect the proposed annexation plan in the village of Kiryas Joel.

The legislation would require county planning departments to review and issue recommendations on annexation proposals.

The two municipalities would decide the outcome, but their boards would need a supermajority — four out of five votes – to override county planners if they recommend rejecting the request.

BackgroundThere are two annexation proposals: one for 507 acres from the unincorporated portion of the Town of Monroe into the Village of Kiryas Joel and a second for 164 acres from the town into the village. The state Department of Environmental Conservation named the village as the lead agency to determine the environment worthiness of the proposals.

The Town of Monroe, which also will have a say in the determination, has engaged planning consultants to advise its members.

Orange County also has allocated $200,000 to conduct what it calls a parallel review to KJ's efforts.

The proposals - be it for 507 acres or 164 - are controversial.

The draft environmental report released last month indicated that even without annexation, the population of Kiryas Joel - now somewhere around 25,000 - would soar in the next decade and beyond.

Critics say Kiryas Joel's growth already taxes the environment, traffic and social services. They also claim the village has a long history of disregarding the rules, be it on local zoning or environmental regulation.

Advocates say the high-density housing and more urban setting better suit a lifestyle steeped in religious and cultural mores.

To oppose annexation is to risk being called anti-Semitic.

The clear and loud response has been nonsense - this is politics.

Second billThe annexation bill is one of two initially proposed by Assemblyman James Skoufis, D-Woodbury.

The Assembly and Senate also approved a second oversight bill that would require the DEC to consider the environmental track records and past compliance with state and federal environmental laws of all municipalities when lead agency disputes arise in future annexations.

Kiryas Joel officials opposed the proposals in both houses of the state Legislature.

ReactionAfter the Senate acted, the public relations firm hired by Kiryas Joel issued the following statement:

"Annexations are a constitutionally enabled and prescribed authority within the exclusive jurisdiction of local governments, including villages, towns and cities. The Senate and Assembly bills intrude on this local home rule right and authority in violation of Article IX of the State constitution, which expressly limits any county involvement in annexations to those affecting county boundaries.

"To our knowledge, this is the first time that anyone has decided to legislatively challenge the existing state prescribed process. We wouldn’t want to speculate about why our situation is different than annexations happening in other parts of the state, even as close as Middletown where an annexation is occurring with Wallkill. And while we respect the legislative process, we know that prior to being advanced to the Governor for consideration his counsel will scrutinize the bill for its form, merit and constitutionality."

State Sen. William J. Larkin Jr. (R-C-Cornwall-on-Hudson) sponsored the legislation in his chamber.

“We desperately need more appropriate oversight on annexations that could have such a significant impact on our region,” he said in a statement.

The governorThere's no word from the governor's office regarding what if anything he will do about these bills.

Cuomo, like his father and like Democratic and Republican candidates for local, county and state offices before him, has met with the leaders of Kiryas Joel prior to elections.

The KJ bloc vote is a powerful factor in elections, especially local campaigns for the Monroe Town Board.

But that's also one of the reasons for the rise of United Monroe as a serious player in town, village and school board politics.

John Allegro, whose organization, United Monroe, has fought the annexation bids first announced in December 2013, urged the governor to sign the laws.

"The DEC law would protect the people from giving serial environmental violators unchecked influence over SEQRA determinations for large projects such as the KJ Annexations," Allegro said in an email exchange with The Photo News.

"The annexation law would add a much needed level of oversight to the actions we have been fighting since January 2014," he added. "No longer would municipal boards such as the secretive KJ regime have the ability to rubber-stamp large scale land grabs for the benefit of a special interest group - the KJPE."

Online petitionResidents looking to urge the governor to act may do so by signing an online petition found on Skoufis web page (http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/James-Skoufis/story/64208).