Town board holds public hearing for Pallotti Village, mixed reception from residents

Pallotti Village, an ongoing development project that emphasizes affordable senior housing, resurfaced on July 6 during a Monroe Town Board meeting and generated extensive discussion among residents.

The public hearing began with a brief presentation from Mike Morgante, the development’s lead engineer. He listed off each of the project’s key members, including Sisters of Chairty Housing, Rockabill, Parish Property Management and Affordable Housing Concepts. The designated land is owned by the Pallottine Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate.

The project is a 178-unit housing development proposed for Harriman Heights between Mansion Ridge Golf Course and Sapphire Elementary School. It comprises a 100-unit senior housing building, 60 units between two multi-family buildings and 18 townhomes. Other amenities include parking, a soccer field, a clubhouse and management facilities.

“As part of the planning board process for this particular project, the visual analysis showed that there would be no adverse impacts to the surrounding community,” Morgante said.

‘We have a beautiful town’

Following the presentation, a dozen residents provided comments ranging from compliments to criticisms. Many people claimed that Pallotti Village is overdevelopment and will create numerous problems for the town, while others applauded the project for its affordable senior housing.

Carol Hawxhurst, a Monroe resident, said that Pallotti Village will erode the town’s allures.

“We have a beautiful town here: close community ties, beautiful scenic countryside, open space,” Hawxhurst said. “We have a rich history here, and I just don’t want to see it going in this direction.”

Helene Shepard, a Washingtonville resident and president of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas Past Regents Chapter, said the project will greatly benefit seniors like herself struggling to find housing in-town.

“I came up to Monroe in 1957, I’ve seen all the changes. I love Monroe but could not get a condo in Monroe. I had to purchase one when my husband died; I’m 83 in Washingtonville,” Shepard said. “I see a great need for this project and I speak on behalf of it.”

An unsuitable location

Maureen Richardson, another Monroe resident, agreed that the town needs more senior housing, but believes there are better ways to achieve this.

“Why, after approximately eight years on the board, have we made no motion to take care of our seniors citizens prior to CCR development?” Richardson asked. “Why have we not made any efforts to facilitate them in pockets all over town, integrated into the existing amenities that would actually facilitate and take care of them?”

Richardson also said that Harriman Heights is an unsuitable location for seniors to receive the care they need from medical services and first responders.

“The amount of service that this would take up, not only for EMTs but for fire, for police to keep them safe,” she added. “We don’t even have that staff to support the current population in Monroe. Are we doing anything? Why are we building this? Why are we building so much high density all at once?”

‘They had to just move away’

Sister Olivia, former president of Monroe’s Pallottine Sisters, said that Pallotti Village would bring only positive changes to the town, especially for seniors.

“I was part of the Monroe Senior Center and all of those dear people, dear ladies that were in my senior center, they had to just move away either to North Carolina or South Carolina and they just couldn’t find a place to live,” the nun said. “So basically, we really feel that this is a worthy, worthwhile project and will benefit the town of Monroe.”

Waled Haredy, a fellow resident, believes that the project will only further contribute to Monroe’s current issues.

“Every day, we wake up to something like this. I’m already having problems with traffic, we have a problem with water,” Haredy said. “What are we doing here? We left the city to come here, the picture behind you, the Town of Monroe, right there, the lake region. This doesn’t look nice to me.”

“Our taxes are already high. And then you need extra care from the police, from all this kind of things that it’s extra. So who’s going to pay the extra? “ he added. “Us?”

After public comment, Morgante said he and the developers conducted numerous traffic analysis and water pump tests to confirm that the project would have minimal impact on the area.

Pallottine Sisters: Part of this community for 100 years

Bill O’Connor, president of Parish Property Management, also clarified the motives behind the Pallotti Village.

“I met with Sister Olivia almost six, seven years ago regarding this project,” O’Connor said. “And at the time, the sisters realized they weren’t going to be using the property anymore. As vested citizens and people part of this community for 100 years, they wanted to make sure that the property would be used for something that would serve the community.”

At the end of the meeting, the board motioned to review and continue discussing Pallotti Village in future meetings.