Will the Town of Woodbury give a builder his way, or will Kiryas Yoel get their way?

Bill Brodsky and another developer hope to build 450 homes and are planning costly water and sewer improvements that would benefit the town. All they ask in return is a simple zoning change, one that would let him build enough homes to make a profit. But the Rockland County developer also wishes to make known that there will be consequences if his project is derailed. "If it's not successful, and I can't work with the Town of Woodbury, what option does that leave me?" Brodsky asks. "I'm not going to be there. I'm going to sell out." The fear of an expanding Kiryas Yoel has become an abiding passion in Woodbury, especially since Chasidic developers bought a 140-acre farm just outside Kiryas Yoel last year. Since that watershed event, many worry the land around Kiryas Yoel will one day give way to the densely packed condominium buildings typical of the 1.1-square-mile village. "We really don't have active conversations right now with the Chasidic community about selling, but we've been approached, and we were approached again recently," he says. "There are only so many times that I can tell the other side I don't want to do business with them."