The projected growth of the Town of Palm Tree outlined in Comprehsensive Plan

By Bob Quinn
KIRYAS Joel — Planning documents prepared by Tim Miller Associates in 2017 for the Village of Kiryas Joel projected that the village’s population would increase from 22,851 in 2015 to 48,003 by 2027, an increase of more than 25,000 people based on an average growth rate of 6.6 percent.
Forty-two percent of the population is school age, so the planners projected that student population would grow by approximately 10,000 students by 2027. “Additional school facilities will be needed in Kiryas Joel to accommodate the anticipated growth,” the Miller report concluded.
The Tim Miller Associates document forms the basis for the draft environmental impact statement on the village’s Comprehensive Plan and Local Laws.
The Village of Kiryas Joel will host a public hearing on Wednesday, July 25, at 4 p.m. at the Terrace on Forest Meeting Hall, 51 Forest Road, Suite 320, Monroe. Written comments will be accepted until Aug. 7.
The draft SGEIS is available from the Village of Kiryas Joel Village Hall and online at www.kj-segra.com.
Here are some highlights directly from the document:
DefinitionThis document is a comprehensive plan for the Village of Kiryas Joel, which annexed 164 acres of land in October 2016 from the Town of Monroe and is poised to expand again to encompass another 56 acres and incorporate the entire area to be known as the Town of Palm Tree.
ObjectivesThe overall plan objectives include:
• Multiple family residential living is the foundation of the community.
• Housing must be affordable for the predominantly low to middle income population.
• Provide a fully walkable, pedestrian-oriented community with transportation access to regional centers.
• Provide community services that support all aspects of family life and meet the needs of all resident age groups.
• Provide adequate water and sewer services for the full development potential of the Village.
• Establish development guidelines that encourage facilities and services in neighborhood settings, including neighborhood-scale retail, educational, civic, religious and recreational opportunities.
“Relative to the development pattern of Kiryas Joel, the availability of infrastructure systems - sewer, water, transit - is key to the concentration of growth that is anticipated in Kiryas Joel,” the report says.
Land useExisting conditions of the newly annexed lands comprise the following land use:
• Approximately 49 acres of residential land and community service facilities;
• 9 acres of transportation or utility facilities;
• 11 acres of fallow farmland; and
• 95 acres of vacant or underdeveloped land.
• There are approximately 49 existing homes.
• An estimated 48 of the 164 acres have potential environmental constraints to development, such as the 28-acre Coronet Lake.
• A significant change in village land use in recent years has been new, higher density residential development replacing low density residential or other uses on several properties in the village.
• One use that is no longer found in the village is agriculture on the property known as Ace Farm at the intersection of Acres and Bakertown roads.
Zoning• There were two development projects located in the annexation area that were either under review by the Town in 2016 (Forest Edge project) or approved and under construction (Vintage Vista). In accordance with the December 2016 Village Board Resolution, these projects would be permitted to continue to be developed consistent with the Town approvals after their approvals are confirmed by the Village Planning Board.
At present, Vintage Vista is nearing construction completion as approved and the Forest Edge development is being redesigned by its owner.
• In the Village of Woodbury, the lots abutting the annexed land are zoned Residential 2-Acre. This zone allows single family uses and limited nonresidential uses. Multifamily residences are not permitted in the R-2A zone. Maximum permitted residential density is 0.33 dwelling unit per acre (one unit on three acres), or 0.25 (one unit on four acres) on lots over 10 acres.
• While there are commercially zoned parcels scattered in various locations around the Village, the primary commercial center of the Village, including the Village Offices, is located on Forest Road opposite Van Buren Drive.
A second business center is located on Bakertown Road near Meron Drive.
With expansion at the outskirts of the Village which is envisioned to become predominantly residential, consideration should be given to providing for and encouraging uses that would support the new residents and be located close by where they live, including social services, retail shops, and parkland.
Expansion of Kiryas Joel boundaries With the 2016 annexation, the Village has a geographic area of approximately 889 acres and upon establishment of Palm Tree, will be approximately 945 acres.
The additional Palm Tree lands generally comprise the following land use areas:
Approximately 22 acres of residential land;
1 acre used for a transportation facility; and
33 acres of vacant land.
There are approximately 20 existing homes.
With these expansions of the municipal limits, the Village must ensure adequate supplies of potable drinking water and sanitary treatment facilities for its current residents and future residents anticipated from the development of undeveloped or under-developed property in the municipality.
In addition, appropriate consideration must be given to maintaining and enhancing the desired community character and other community needs.
Existing water supply sourcesThe Village of Kiryas Joel water supply is sourced from a series of 16 bedrock groundwater wells and three sand and gravel wells, for a total of 19 wells. The water supply wells are generally located in three well fields. Ten of the wells are located within the Village boundaries, seven are located in the Brenner well field located on Larkin Road on Village-owned land in the Town of Monroe, and two wells are located on Village-owned property in the Town of Cornwall.
The wells and the allowable amount of water withdrawn are permitted by a permit issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in April. This permit consolidates all of the existing wells under a single permit, including the newest well field in Cornwall (the “Mountainville well field”).
The village is currently permitted to withdraw an average of up to 2,540,800 gallons per day (gpd) or 2.54 million gallons per day (mgd) from all of the wells in the Village system.
The village owns, operates and maintains its water supply infrastructure, including: four pumping stations, seven water storage tanks, three water treatment plants and the distribution system. The water storage tanks located in the Village have a combined capacity of 4.1 mgd which allow the Village to meet maximum daily demand, water demand fluctuations and to provide fire protection for the Village.
Future village water demandThe Annexation DGEIS documented the daily average per capita water usage in the Village to be 66.0 gppd (gallons per person per day), for planning purposes.
For this study, future water demand for the Village is estimated using the 66.0 gppd usage rate and the projected population increase of 22,669 persons by the year 2027 (2017 population estimate projected to 2027). Thus, daily water demand in the Village could increase by 1,496,154 gpd or 1.50 mgd.
This demonstrates that there is a need for careful monitoring and planning of the available water supply for the Village to accommodate new construction in or out of the 164-acre area.
Existing wastewater treatmentThe Village of Kiryas Joel is located in Orange County Sewer District #1. The OCSD#1 serves all properties in the Village of Kiryas Joel, the Village of Monroe, the Village of Harriman and portions of the Town of Monroe. All of the 164 acres recently annexed into the Village are within the OCSD#1 and thus are entitled to connect to the District’s facilities.
The OCSD#1 operates the Harriman Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) located at 72 River Road in the Village of Harriman. The Harriman WWTP has a capacity of 6.0 million gallons per day (mgd).
The OCSD#1 also operates a wastewater treatment plant in the Village of Kiryas Joel located on Bakertown Road. The Kiryas Joel WWTP has a capacity of 0.97 mgd.
The 2017 reporting (June 2017, 12-month average) indicates that the Harriman WWTP was operating at about 80 percent of the permit flow rate, or 4.83 mgd.
Wastewater treatment flow rates and other discharge parameters for the Kiryas Joel plant are also reported to Orange County on a monthly basis. Reporting for early 2017 showed that the Kiryas Joel WWTP was operating at approximately 65 percent of the permitted plant flow rate, or up to 0.627 mgd.
Projected Wastewater Treatment DemandA conservative estimate (matching the full projected water use of Kiryas Joel) is 1.50 mgd of additional wastewater treatment demand by 2027.
The Orange County Department of Environmental Facilities Report (January 2010) concluded that there would be sufficient capacity beyond 2015 based on its obligation to increase capacity pursuant to the 2010 Expansion Agreement between Orange County and the Sewer District, when the Harriman WWTP reaches 85 percent of its capacity.
Studies completed by Orange County Department of Environmental Facilities and Services and NYSERDA (October 2006) demonstrated that the Harriman WWTP could be expanded to 9.0 mgd within the existing facility boundaries using available technology.
The County more recently retained Delaware Engineering to develop plans for plant expansion. The September 2016 draft report provided three options to expand capacity at the Harriman WWTP to 9.0 mgd from the existing 6.0 mgd.
The report also provided options for expanding wastewater treatment capacity at other facilities in Orange County, thereby reducing the demand at Harriman WWTP.
Expansion of the County’s wastewater treatment capacity to 9.0 mgd, consistent with its obligations to the sewer district, would service the additional demand from the Village of Kiryas Joel including the annexation land well beyond the year 2027. Any future development approval must carefully document sufficient availability of both water and sewer capacity.