Kiryas Joel expands its borders by 164 acres

By Bob Quinn
KIRYAS JOEL — The Kiryas Joel Board of Trustees has adopted its first local law of the year, thereby annexing 164 acres of land in the unincorporated portion of the Town of Monroe into the village.
The law was adopted last Friday, Oct. 14. The PDF of the document distributed via email by Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin indicates the paperwork has been received by the New York Secretary of State, which means the law is now in effect.
The action follows the Oct. 11 decision by state Supreme Court Justice Gretchen Walsh, who rejected two lawsuits that sought to stop the annexation. The lawsuits were filed by a coalition of municipalities including Orange County and the nonprofit Preserve Hudson Valley.
Walsh said the state environmental review done by the Village of Kiryas Joel was sufficient and that the municipalities and Preserve Hudson Valley had failed to demonstrate how they had been harmed by the vote.
The 164-acre annexation was approved by both the Village of Kiryas Joel and the Town of Monroe. These properties are generally located to the north and to the east of the village and are commonly known as “The Fingers” for how land abuts the village borders.
A second annexation proposal - for 507 acres - remains in court.
The point of annexation, as well as what Szegedin himself has described as "the KJ overflow" into Monroe, Blooming Grove and Woodbury, is an expanding population in need of housing.

What’s next

The coalition that brought suit includes of Village of South Blooming Grove, Town of Blooming Grove, Village of Monroe, Village of Woodbury, Town of Woodbury, Village of Harriman, Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, Town of Cornwall, County of Orange (on behalf of itself and Orange County Sewer District No. 1 ), Town of Chester, Monroe Joint Fire District and the Black Rock Fish and Game Club of Cornwall.
Cornwall-on-Hudson Mayor Brendan Coyne, who serves as a spokesman for the coalition met Oct. 11, the day before the decision, and again this week to discuss the decision.
We’ve been talking with our local attorneys who had a conference call with our lead law firm, Bryan Cave,” Coyne said. “The coalition will appeal.”
Meanwhile, Mike Egan, a member of Preserve Hudson Valley, issued the following statement:
“In its usual opaque manner of privately doing public business without notice or public participation, the government of the village of Kiryas Joel seems to have taken the expected next step of passing a local law to annex the 164 acre territory. As previously stated, Preserve Hudson Valley intends to appeal last week’s decision by Judge Walsh regarding the 164 acre annexation article 78 lawsuits. In consultation with our law firm Zarin and Steinmetz, we will decide when to proceed.”

Doles: Time for school districts to act

Meanwhile, Town of Monroe Supervisor Harley E. Doles said what needs to happen next is for the Kiryas Joel and Monroe-Woodbury School Districts “to redraw the school boundaries and transfer all school-children currently under the jurisdiction of the MWSD and re-assigned to the Kiryas Joel School District.
“Towns, communities and families have been torn apart, fearing that annexation would lead to the creation of East Ramapo,” Doles said, referring to the Rockland County public school district whose board of education is represented by members of the Hasidic community even though they do not send their children to the public schools.
“It is time to put fear aside,” Doles continued in his press release. In speaking (Tuesday) with the Village of Kiryas Joel, they have assured me that Joe Petlin, Superintendent of the Kiryas Joel School District, is committed to living up to the promises of a redrawn and coterminous school district in the newly annexed area.”
Monroe-Woodbury School officials could not be reached for comment at press time.
Following last week’s court decision, Superintendent of Schools Elsie Rodriguez said the district would conclude its research into the impacts of annexation and develop a specific plan of action.
“As part of our ongoing research, district officials have met with representatives from Kiryas Joel,” she added. “These discussions will resume, specifically to discuss next steps and the advisability of modifying our mutual boundaries and its impact on our taxpayers.”