Monroe, NY – Pending Approvals, New Town Of Palm Tree To Include Kiryas Joel Plus 220 Additional Acres

Monroe, NY – After years of making headlines for bitter animosity and costly lawsuits, brighter times may be ahead in Orange County as both sides in the heated expansion debate have agreed to a settlement that would spin the Village of Kiryas Joel and 220 adjacent acres off into a completely independent entity.

The Times Herald Record reported (http://bit.ly/2vgGofJ) that representatives of Kiryas Joel and the United Monroe’s citizens group have signed on a court settlement that would move Kiryas Joel from the Town of Monroe into the newly formed Town of Palm Tree as of January 1, 2020.

Kiryas Joel officials have already said that they will work with lawmakers to have the new town’s creation date pushed ahead.

Word of the proposed plan came just over one month ago, as previously reported on VIN News (http://bit.ly/2vgOgy6). Tuesday’s court agreement requires compromise on both sides, but hands each one at least a partial victory.

While Kiryas Joel will get the green light on a 164 acre annexation plan, plus an additional 56 acres, it will drop a lawsuit that sought the annexation of 507 acres into the village. In exchange for the acreage, United Monroe will walk away with a ten year moratorium on similar expansion plans as well as the ability to free itself of Kiryas Joel’s commanding voice on election day.

“The political separation appears to be the only way the Town of Monroe can maintain its voice since the bloc vote of Kiryas Joel is too powerful to overcome in the long run,” said United Monroe spokesperson Mike Egan.

Taking its name from the English translation of Teitelbaum, the Town of Palm Tree still has several hurdles to clear.

Both the Monroe-Woodbury and Kiryas Joel school boards would have to agree by September 6th to shift their boundaries to move the new Palm Tree acreage into the Kiryas Joel School District.

The plan would also have to be approved by a two thirds majority of the Orange County Legislature in September before being put up for referendum to the public in the November 7th general election.

Both Kiryas Joel officials and United Monroe chairwoman Emily Convers were not immediately available to return calls for comment.