In a bucolic Rockland County, New York neighborhood that backs up to Clausland Mountain State Park and the Sparkill Creek (a Hudson River watershed tributary), an application is being made to convert an existing small, low-slung warehouse to a 450,000  sq ft “High Volume”-capable Warehouse with over 50 open loading docks capable of supporting hundreds of trucks on a daily basis. That is 2 football fields (600+feet) long with 40 feet high walls totaling 19 million cubic square feet.

This warehouse complex  is designed for 24/7 operation ensuring increased traffic, congestion, noise and pollution to the community.  Today, trucks are directed via Google Maps over Clausland Mountain on roads that prohibit truck traffic yet accidents or near-accidents are common. These roads are shared with bikers, pedestrians and school buses.  The traffic study was done by the developer and we are waiting for a new study that we hope will be more accurate, but unless you have a camera watching all the time, you won’t catch the dangerous violations that threaten residents daily.  

The Rockland County Department of Planning issued a report on September 25, 2019 which gave a negative read-out of the situation.  Not surprisingly, once this developer knew they’d need a full board present to override the negatives of this project, they cancelled their appearance on 9/25/2019 and now they are back. 

Adjacency to Clausland Mountain Park and the Sparkill Creek will limit the movement of wildlife and increase runoff to a tributary already cited as one of the worst polluted tributaries of the Hudson River  ( https://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/2019/05/08/sparkill-creek-pollution/3576851002/ )  This project will further degrade the creek, destroying wetlands and lowlands and an ancient burial ground. Furthermore, the Army Corp of Engineers has jurisdiction and the agency does not appear to have been notified, per County Planning Board's comments.  Squeezing and rearranging the wetlands poses a real potential hazard to the storm water system and the residential neighbors to the north.  

The character of the 303 area was already considered and codified in the 303 Overlay Zone regulations https://ecode360.com/26868079 .  This project proposes to remake Orangetown in the image of an industrial zone. 

Finally, this project is being presented in bits and pieces to the various boards without being considered as whole.  A project of this magnitude should be voted on by the public.  

The Town of Orangetown and its residents do not want this giant warehouse built at this site or at any other site in Our Town.  We are shocked at the warehouse that was approved on 303 behind Aluf Plastic, degrading the quality of life for all residents, impacting property values and driving wildlife out of their homes and into everyone’s backyards.

Residents want to preserve open space, local history and minimize density. Orangetown residents want a quality of life analysis to be made by the Town Board Members. More open space, parks, ball Fields and out-door recreational areas while working with residents to create sustainable, tax rateable business opportunities for property owners.  

Our boards should support and pursue every effort to preserve the last open areas we have left and not allow existing parcels to be overdeveloped into sites that destroy our quality of life.  

By signing this Petition, I/We urge the Orangetown Planning Board to vote “NO” on the project’s various applications. 

Chip in for legal representation here:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/greenbush-mountainview-to-stop-the-mega-warehouse?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link-tip&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

View the last Public Hearing March 13, 2019; start at approximately 2 hrs 16 minutes:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWTebZrNbc