Residents of Sunset Ridge, a development community in the West End of the City of Newburgh, have come before the city government to request assistance in maintaining their community, provide municipal services and to hold the developer accountable. In recent days, residents met members of city staff to discuss ways to rectify the situation.

The area known as Sunset Ridge Subdivision at Morris Avenue and Orchard Street is a project under the direction of developer Dimitri Zahariadis of Excell Homes/Ionic Properties LLC which is based out of Lackawaxen, PA. The development has 50 homes, a combination of town homes and traditional single family homes on a privately owned road. It was reported back in 2017 that Zahariadis has worked on projects in the Poconos and the Sunset Ridge Subdivision was purchased by Zahariadis through TD Bank after being taken back from its previous owner Rolling Acres Sunset Ridge LLC. Several calls were made to Zahariadis but he was not heard back from prior to publication.

Tamika Stewart, a resident of Sunset Ridge, has appeared before the city council to voice her concerns on the matter surrounding the care of her neighborhood. She provided a brief tour on Thursday, October 3 where potholes and raised manhole covers were visible and showed the large incline of the hill that leads into the development, which is a safety concern. She also identified where the streets have been or have not been paved and the stormwater facilities that were in need of repair by the developer.

Stewart explained that on October 2, residents of Sunset Ridge, including Stewart, met with City Manager Todd Venning, Mayor Torrance Harvey and City Chief of Staff Mike Neppl and further discussions were to take place in the coming days. She was also grateful for city staff and city council members to have come out to the neighborhood prior to assess the situation.

“It [the meeting] was very informative. We got some clarity on a lot of things,” said Stewart. “One of the most important things is that the city manager had made some suggestions and options, given us about three options on how we can rectify the situation and find a solution to getting the roads fixed and also getting the land dedicated back to the city, which was important. We all really appreciated that conversation. One of the things that they’re going to try to do is see how they take that burden of us suing the developer off of our hands.”

Several issues Stewart would like to have addressed would be the roads to be fixed so snow plows can plow residential roads smoothly. Municipal services would also benefit from safer road conditions in the wintertime if the roads are properly maintained and cleared. She mentioned the paving of the roads would not be completed by the wintertime so it would be a little bit longer but options are being pursued to relieve the residents of this issue.

Sunset Ridge residents appeared at the September 9th and September 23rd meeting to air out their grievances about the conditions of the roads, the developer and the city’s response before city council.

“I am coming here because this past winter several homeowners complained because our street was not being plowed properly, iced over and created very dangerous conditions,” said resident Kenya Sanders Small on Sept. 9. “The City of Newburgh has a responsibility to maintain streets that all residents attend and go on.”

Small explained she reached out to the city in July for further information. She received a response which detailed efforts the city was looking into to have the developer complete infrastructure work. A meeting was requested but was not deemed necessary. Small had contacted the city manager’s office to request in-person meetings to discuss the on-going situation.

Mayor Torrance Harvey broke protocol that night to address Small’s concern. “Our city executive team did send you all a list and some correspondence on how your road is a privately owned road. It has not been dedicated to the city,” said Harvey. “Therefore, there’s certain things that we cannot legally do, plow, mill pave and other public services. We cannot legally provide until certain things have been met by the developer.”

City Engineer Jason Morris explained to Small and the public that night that the developer would need to construct stormwater management practices, build retaining walls, pave the roads and improve the sewers before the city can take ownership of the roads.

Sunset Ridge resident Aja Jeffries was also concerned about the development but questioned the passage of plans relating to the project. “When a subdivision is brought to a city, I know that a construction plan has to be created, submitted, has to be looked over, has to be approved. I know that the developer that we bought our homes from is not the person that originally developed the original construction plan,” said Jeffries. “What we don’t understand is that how the original construction plan that was developed did not have street lights as a part of the plan and that was passed and approved into the City of Newburgh.”

Sunset Ridge resident Nekell McGriff, similar to her fellow homeowners, was frustrated with the potholes and raised manhole covers. She questioned if escrow funds could be used to repair the streets, put in needed safety measures and repair the water features or were the funds used to cover the sanctions against the developer. “We came to Newburgh, the people on that street, some people are natives to upstate New York, some of us came to Newburgh and invested in this community,” said McGriff. “We invested in this community with the hopes that it would invest in us and help us live our lives here, grow our families in our little neighborhood.”

Per the city’s press office, the city is continuing to meet with the residents of Sunset Ridge to address the conditions caused by developer Excell Homes/Ionic Properties’ failure to complete the legally-required work they are obligated to perform. The development ownership has recently received a violation notice dated September 6 identifying known erosion and sediment control deficiencies currently on the site that need to be addressed, which results in the developer subject to fines if not addressed.