By Audeen Moore
If all goes well with a proposed annexation, a 57.4-acre parcel zoned residential will become available for development in Maybrook but existing wetlands will reduce the buildable acreage by nearly half.
The village board addressed what is being called the “Rakov annexation” at a village board meeting earlier this month when a petition filed by J&G Law of Walden was filed, requesting the annexation of just over 17 acres from the Town of Montgomery to Maybrook. The parcel is landlocked and lies in the vicinity of Heard Ave. and Wiley St. The petition also requests the 17. 3 acres be merged with the 40.1 Rakov acres already in the village and the entire parcel be zoned R-3 (residential).
“It was Dr. Rakov’s property and his children want to market it for development,” a spokesman said. “It makes sense to develop this as one piece.”
Public hearings by both town and village boards will be required before any annexation can be approved. And a public hearing on the zone change must be held. If all goes well with that process, any development would go through normal village planning board processes. Existing wetlands will reduce the number of buildable acreage from a total of 57.4 to about 25-30 acres.
Village Attorney Kelly Naughton asked the Rakov representatives for an updated Environmental Assessment Statement (EAS) and for some kind of estimated development plan for the village planning board to review. In the meantime, the village board voted unanimously to declare its intent to serve as State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) lead agency and to classify it as a Type I SEQR Action.