Town of Monroe rejects Village of Seven Springs petition, but what’s next?

MONROE — The fate of the proposed Hasidic Village of Seven Springs remains unclear after Town of Monroe Supervisor Tony Cardone rejected a petition by Hasidic property owners to form that village, which is adjacent to the Town of Palm Tree.
In published reports, Cardone said the petitioners didn’t collect the minimum number of signatures required by state law.
116 signatures from 597 'regular inhabitants'Cardone said the 116 signatures equated to only 19 percent of the 597 people listed as “regular inhabitants” of the proposed village, which would be 1.7 miles in size, according to published reports.
The signatures of at least 20 percent of the “regular inhabitants” - they need to be adult signatures - is required by state law to validate the petition, according to reports, in which Cardone said the petition was short of three signatures to meet that threshold.
Additionally, Cardone said in the report that because the petition is insufficient, it would not be further processed in the town.
However, while state law requires that 20 percent threshold, the law also requires a proposed village have at least 500 ”regular inhabitants,” which includes children. Published reports also say the petitioners’ attorney alleges Cardone misapplied the 20 percent requirement by confusing regular inhabitants with qualified voters.
The town’s attorney said he would consider any objections from petitioners, according to published reports, and Cardone can equally find other grounds to determine the petition is not sufficient.
The petition was filed in August 2018 by property owners not part of the annexation process to create the Town of Palm Tree.
A conflicting court case was withdrawn last month, allowing for the petition’s reactivation, according to reports.
The need for changeMeanwhile, Assemblyman Colin Schmitt (R-New Windsor) announced last week that he will introduce legislation that would update and change the village creation process in New York State.
"It can very easily be exploited by a small group of individuals," Schmitt said in the press release announcing his plans. "There is only a minimum requirement of 500 residents. In regards to the validation of petition signatures to form a new village, either 20 percent of residents in the proposed area need to sign a petition or the persons submitting the petition have to be landowners that own more than 50 percent of the land in the proposed village area."
Schmitt proposes that the minimum resident requirement would increase to 2,000 residents. In regards to the validation of petition signatures, a new village would need 51 percent of residents to sign the village creation petition.
Schmitt also is proposing a change to the qualification of voters in regards to the creation of the new village. This would state that all qualified voters in the town where the land is coming from would be eligible to vote on the referendum, not just those within the confines of the proposed village as the law currently states.
Schmitt's proposal comes in reaction to the proposed Village of Seven Springs in the Town of Monroe. The legislation, however, would affect this particular case.