Thursday, November 02, 2023
Efforts To Establish Two New Hasidic Villages In Hudson Valley Meet Obstacles And Litigation
Two upstate Hasidic communities are each trying to form new villages in Sullivan and Orange counties but proposed legislation modifying the 150-year-old law that establishes the mechanism to create a village could derail these efforts. The bill, written by Senator James Skoufis, has passed both the Assembly and the Senate and is awaiting a trip to Governor Kathy Hochul's desk for signature.
The law, if signed, could have implications for the proposed villages of Seven Springs in the Town of Monroe in Orange County and the Village of Ateres in Sullivan County.
The bill would increase the minimum population requirement for village incorporation to 2,000 from 500 persons who are regular inhabitants, a number where it has stood for decades. Also, before a village can be established, a study must be conducted on the fiscal, service and taxation interests of the population to gauge if the maintenance of the village is fiscally viable. That study must be filed with the Department of State and posted on its website for a minimum of 90 days. The law would still require the votes of at least 20% of the residents "qualified to vote" for town officers to start the proceedings to become a village.
"The bill has not yet made it to the governor's desk but we have every reason to believe she'll sign it," said a Skoufis spokeswoman. Hochul has until the end of the year to sign the bill, or it lapses.
The Viznitz Hasidic community filed a petition in June to establish a village with its own local government and laws in Sullivan County. The proposed Village of Ateres straddles two towns but is mostly in Thompson and consists of the small Viznitz enclave — with an estimated 834 adults and children living in it — and hundreds of acres of surrounding land. It sits near Kiamesha Lake, not far from Resorts World Casino.
The towns held two public hearings in August for speakers to pose objections to the petition on technical and legal grounds. After weighing testimony and a flood of written comments, Thompson Supervisor Bill Rieber and Fallsburg Supervisor Kathy Rappaport in August voided 25 of the 99 signatures but upheld the petition.
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