Friday, August 07, 2020
Skoufis: Hasidic ‘mega-development’ would hurt South Blooming Grove
State Sen. James Skoufis, D-Cornwall, is forcefully objecting to developer Keen Equities LLC's Clovewood housing proposal for the Satmar Hasidim at the former Lake Anne Country Club in South Blooming Grove.
In a newly released letter, sent to South Blooming Grove's Village Board and its Planning Board, and in a Thursday interview, Skoufis expressed multiple concerns. He thinks the municipality is too small to support what he called a "mega-development."
The two boards are seeking public comments on the project at a limited-capacity joint meeting, with masks and social distancing, at 7 p.m., Monday at the South Blooming Grove firehouse at 819 Route 208.
The proposal, currently before the planning board, calls for building 600 four-bedroom homes on 142 acres on the 708-acre property off Clove Road, near the Route 208 intersection. Skoufis said the project would:
• ruin the village's country character, and the senator questioned whether the developer is taking adequate steps to fulfill a promise to preserve most of the land;
• overburden infrastructure, adding "many hundreds of additional cars, thousands of additional water and sewer users, and substantial new municipal expenses (e.g. police, fire, highway, clerks)";
• potentially provide poor quality water to its residents and overwhelm an "aquifer [that] barely meets existing needs," given that "municipal wells frequently run dry";
• and conflict with the village's existing zoning regulations.
Asked about the appropriateness of a state senator weighing in on a developer's municipal housing proposal, Skoufis said he's long "viewed my responsibility as going beyond just passing a bill."
"If I view something as harmful for the residents I represent, I go to bat for the community," Skoufis said.
State. Sen. James Skoufis
Skoufis said his objections are based strictly on Clovewood's merits, and acknowledged that his position could lose him some Hasidic followers' votes.
But, also, "There are many orthodox Jewish families in South Blooming Grove who oppose this project," Skoufis said. "Hundreds have moved there, and to Woodbury, because they want a yard, and some peace and to escape the high density 'hecticness' of Kiryas Joel."
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