Woodbury, NY - Court Clears Way For New Village Vote

Woodbury, NY - An appeals court ruling has cleared the way for Woodbury residents to vote whether to create a village that encompasses the whole town except its portion of Harriman.

Residents petitioned to form the village in 2004 amid fears that neighboring Kiryas Joel would expand into Woodbury. Their proposal then languished in court after landholders for the Chasidic community challenged it on technical grounds.

An appeals panel overturned a January 2005 state Supreme Court decision that sided with Kiryas Joel, removing the only obstacle to a referendum on forming a Village of Woodbury.
The vote would be the second this year on creating a village in the area surrounding Kiryas Joel, whose high-density building and rapid growth riles its neighbors. Three weeks ago, residents voted overwhelmingly to incorporate a 4.8-square-mile Village of South Blooming Grove, just north of Kiryas Joel.