ALBANY – A pair of laws signed into effect by Governor Kathy Hochul last week will tighten up the process by which villages can be created, with the proposed Sullivan County village of Ateres the only exemption to the new legislation.
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The new laws will raise the 500 person population requirement to 1,500, will require multiple studies to be done to measure potential impact on the area and will create a state commission to decide if a referendum is allowed to proceed. Proponents of the laws had said the existing laws were archaic and needed to be updated.
According to The Journal News (bit.ly/3S31BpS), multiple efforts had been made previously in Albany to raise the population threshold over the years. While the bills that Hochul signed call for a population of at least 2,000 to create a new village, she stipulated that the bills will be amended during the upcoming legislative session to a 1500 person minimum.
The new laws will not apply to any petitions that had been already scheduled for a referendum on December 22nd, an exemption that will allow a referendum on Ateres’ petition to proceed as scheduled on January 18th. As previously reported on VIN News, Ateres encompasses an area that is approximately one and a half square miles, whose mostly Viznitzer residents are looking for a government that will be more responsive to their unique needs.
The legislation is anything but good news for the proposed Village of Seven Springs, located in the Orange County town of Monroe. The Journal News (https://bit.ly/3tDB9tM) reported that the Seven Springs proposal was rejected in September by local officials on technical details, with attorneys for the proposed village saying that they intended to appeal that decision in state Supreme Court.
Senator James Skoufis, sponsor of one of the two laws signed into effect by Hochul, said that it would put the brakes on “reckless development.” He noted that new villages require sanitation, highway maintenance and public safety services, a reality that requires a much larger population base than 500 people that could translate to as few as 60 to 70 homes.
“The Seven Springs fiasco, which would have proven an impossible lift for local taxpayers, all so a couple of wealthy developers could make a buck, has come to an end,” said Skoufis.
Seven Springs had only 597 inhabitants when its petition was filed, while Ateres had 834. The only other village in the formation process is Edgemont, located in Westchester, but its population meets the new state-mandated minimums.
In a nod to those who had categorized the 500 person population requirement as archaic, Hochul agreed that the time had come to modernize the state’s village incorporation procedures.
“We want our villages and surrounding towns to thrive,” said the governor.
Why on VIN you always find people who see every action the government is doing, as anti- Semitic.
The Non-Jews call it: retaining the local culture, keeping open spaces, managing road traffic, not stretching infrastructure past it’s limits.
We call it: Antisemitism
The only solution to the housing crisis is more developments. Greedy as developers may be, shutting down their plans has its consequences.
This is all about dirty politics being played by Frum Politicians against other Frum Yidden. A real Shanda!