A joint commission of representatives from all three municipalities will review the project together. The Blooming Grove planning board and the Chester Town Board are cooperating as lead agencies, but the collaboration agreement among the municipalities is not yet final. The Blooming Grove planning board said it had not yet heard from Chester.

As with any major development, a range of environmental problems need to be addressed, along with traffic: finding sewer lines, managing stormwater that runs into wetlands and waterways; and protecting air quality, trees, and scenic views.

Some of the buildings proposed may be too tall for Blooming Grove’s zoning code. The amount of noise and light the development will create will also be considered, along with the protection of an historic cemetery that has existed on the property since its days as a women’s prison.

Blooming Grove’s planners said that in order to accommodate a project of this scale, major changes will need to be made to its zoning code and master plan, as well as to the county’s master plan.

The developer donated a parcel for an elementary school in the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District, but Blooming Grove’s planning board chairman, Ralph Maffei, turned away the idea. “I don’t know why we should accept a school that will not even be in our district … when it would raise taxes, instead of using it for rateables,” he said.

Time is running out

Mountco Development Corp., based in Scarsdale, says it wants to build the first truly walkable urban community on this side of the Hudson. The traditional neighborhood design will include affordable housing, a college extension, and a commercial property expected to generate tax revenue for local towns. Mountco made a down payment of $100,000 and will give another $2 million when the project is approved. But its contract with Orange County, which owns the property, allows Mountco to back out if the approvals do not come by April 2011, two years after they signed the contract.

Orange County bought the property in June 2007 for $9.5 million and is anxious to recoup its investment. The county had hoped to receive the next installment of $2 million two years after it purchased the property in February 2007, but progress has been slowed by the difficulty in finding water and sewer services.

The developer wants to draw water from the Village of Chester, but the village so far has not committed to supplying it. The county is considering a water loop to bring supplies from towns where water is abundant to towns where it is not, but some county legislators are worried about the loss of home rule this would entail.

As for treating sewage, Mountco has proposed hooking the development into the Harriman plant.

Maffei said the developer has not yet satisfactorily addressed how the development will affect property taxes. “We need a complete analysis showing both the benefits and the costs,” he said.

The towns will continue to study the project in scoping sessions that will give the public an opportunity to learn more about Mountco’s plans but are not intended for public comment. Public hearings where written and spoken comments will be accepted will follow the scoping sessions. The next scoping session will be held on Nov. 10 at the Blooming Grove Town Hall on Horton Road, behind the police station.

Blooming Grove’s attorney: if the infrastructure problem cannot be worked out, it would be a ‘no build’ situation.

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