BY JAMES WALSH
THE JOURNAL NEWS • AUGUST 22, 2008
SUFFERN - The Orange Avenue urban renewal plan is being opposed by residents upset over the specter of eminent domain, and the potential for a seven-story condominium to choke the neighborhood with traffic.
The Stop Suffern Overbuilding Coalition, a group of about 15 residents, has distributed petitions against the plan, which it intends to give to the village board next week.
"We'd like them to take this project off the books completely," said one of the organizers, Jo Corrigan, whose Park Avenue home is about a block from the first stage of the village's plan.
Although the village board has discussed the project for more than a year, Corrigan found that most people signing the petition were unaware of it.
"I feel there are alternatives," said Tom Russell, whose home is within the third phase of the renewal project.
"Fix up the buildings," Russell said of existing structures in the first stage between 120 Orange Ave. and Chestnut Street.
"If you want to beautify the village, I'm all for that," he said.
Mayor John Keegan and members of the village board have said eminent domain would only be used in the first phase, and sales in other sections would be negotiated between the owners and the eventual developer.
Not everyone is convinced.
"Even though they claim they won't use eminent domain in parts 2 and 3, we don't buy that because that's not how the plan is written," said George Audisio, who lives on Park Avenue.
Corrigan pointed out a section of the plan that stated there could be changes in land acquisition if the village decided "it wants to acquire all of Blocks 2 or 3 to facilitate development of those blocks," or if there was a need "to acquire minor additional parcels of land or amend acquisition boundaries in order to effectuate the plan."
Deputy Mayor Dagan LaCorte reiterated the board's stance against eminent domain except for the first phase.
That's primarily a commercial location, he said, and the owner of the single residential building has been willing to sell.
"There is a consensus on the (village) board that eminent domain will only be used on phase 1," LaCorte said. "We want involvement from the community, but it's unfortunate when opposition is based on misinformation. We will not take private homes from unwilling sellers."
A public hearing on the proposal was held July 30, and will resume Sept. 10 before the Planning Board. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Village Hall, 61 Washington Ave.
The village board referred the redevelopment proposal to the planners for an opinion on zone changes.
In the first phase, there could be a seven-floor building with 116 condominiums. That translates into 70 residential units per acre.
Current zoning caps high-rises at 50 units per acre.
Overall, 315 condominiums could be built on all three sites, which occupy 5.6 acres southward to East Maple Avenue.
As the development progresses away from the downtown and approaches single-family houses on Orange Avenue, building heights would decrease.
Russell and his wife, Pat, were concerned that the inclusion of their home within the third phase - between East Park Place and East Maple Avenue -damaged its value.
"Would you buy it if you knew that a developer could come in and take it?" Tom Russell asked. "Would you buy a house that could be knocked down two years, 10 years from now? No, you wouldn't."
Coalition members also felt the project would exacerbate traffic jams.
"We sat on our deck last Friday from 3:30 (p.m.) to 6:30 and it was bumper to bumper on Orange Avenue without a break," Pat Russell said.
The development plan infers that many of the new residents would be commuters drawn by the nearby train and bus service, so there would be fewer cars.
Planners and merchants also expect that the residents would become a ready market for downtown businesses.
At the July public hearing, some residents felt it was the downtown that was the problem, and it needed a greater variety of stores to draw shoppers.
"This would not help the village whatsoever," said Corrigan, who predicted that more traffic would keep current shoppers at bay.
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