By Katie Bisaro
The respective boards of the Town of Warwick and Village of Warwick reconvened on Thurs., Feb. 25 for the joint public hearing, held open since Thurs., Jan 14, to consider the annexation of a sliver of land, equaling just over half an acre, from the Town to the Village that is part of the proposed Village View Estates subdivision development in the Village, off Woodside Dr. and Locust St.
The joint public hearing was held open to allow for additional public commentary on the matter in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic health situation. Once again the matter before both boards was in regards to the annexation of a small sliver of land from the Town to the Village, not the merits of the Village View Estates project and the issuance of a special use variance which will be considered at a later date.
The piece of land under consideration, six-tenths of an acre, will come under the control of the Homeowners Association (HOA) for Village View Estates once the development is built. Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton commented that it would come with a deed restriction that the parcel would be dedicated open space. At the first joint hearing it was pointed out by the developer’s engineer, Kirk Rother, that the parcel of land would also provide access from the development to Woodside Dr., the rest would remain open space.
Public Commentary
Lugene Maher, of Woodside Dr., questioned what “problems” would be solved by annexing the land as the reasons mentioned were to clean up the tax map as well as for maintenance of the access road. She pointed out that the tax map has had this irregular piece for years without issue. She also noted that several residents along Woodside Dr. have properties that are similarly divided between the Village and the Town and thus not a unique situation to the developer. Regarding the maintenance of the access road, she commented that an agreement between the Town and the Village could outline the responsibilities of the maintenance and upkeep up the access road. Therefore, Maher concluded, there are no real “problems” that need to be addressed with the proposed annexation at this time.
Additionally, Maher questioned the “end game” of the proposed annexation, noting that the land provides a right-of-way to 70 acres of land, adjacent to the Village View property but located in the Town that is also owned by the developer of Village View. The concern is that the developer may choose to build further, or sell the property to another developer, either of whom could petition the Village to annex that property as well in order to have access to Village water and sewer.
Maher questioned why so much time and effort has been put into the annexation of this property. She feels that the small sliver of land, that the developer and his engineer have both indicated is not important to the Village View project itself, is part of the “end game.”
“The end game is the future potential benefit that it may afford Mr. Silber [the developer] or some other developer who may own that property in the future,” Maher stated.
Another Woodside Dr. resident raised concerns about increased traffic in the area, due to access through the proposed annexed parcel, particularly at the intersection of Woodside Dr. and Locust St. as well as where motorists try to get onto Rte. 94/Maple Ave. from Locust St.
Future of Adjacent Town Parcel
With regards to the potential future annexation of the adjoining 70-acre parcel, Sweeton pointed out that there is an intermunicipal agreement between the Village and the Town that stipulates that property annexed into the Village from the Town would come in at Town zoning in terms of density, not Village zoning. Any decisions regarding density would be made by the Village Board.
Attorney Jay Myrow, who represents the developer and, as Town Attorney, has recused himself from Town Board discussions on the matter, pointed out that the current annexation request originated at the Village Planning Board is in order to clean up the tax map, there is no ulterior motive from the developer. There are no plans for the Town parcel adjacent to Village View at this time.
The Town and Village Boards closed the public hearing on the annexation matter and no further action was taken by either Board at that time.
A Joint Public Hearing was held at Warwick Town Hall on Jan. 24 & Feb. 25 regarding the annexation of a small piece of land from the Town to the Village.
