The Town of Wallkill on Nov. 16 extended its year-old warehouse moratorium for another six months.
Supervisor George Serrano told The Epoch Times that the extension was put in place to allow the master plan review committee to continue its work on warehousing code recommendations.
“They are doing their due diligence and making sure that our zonings are done correctly with regard to warehouses and distribution centers,” he said, adding that he hopes that an updated warehousing code will be ready before the moratorium expires in May.
The moratorium was first enacted in November 2022, at a time when about 20 warehouse projects were proposed in town, according to a previous interview with Councilman Eric Johnson.
After the moratorium went into effect—it was initially a six-month moratorium but was extended for six months in May—only one warehouse project on Crystal Run Road was approved by the town board.
The moratorium makes an exception for warehousing applicants who experience unnecessary and extraordinary hardship under the restrictions.
“This is not about stopping business from coming into our town,” Councilman Eric Valentin told The Epoch Times. “This is about creating a sustainable path for businesses.”
“The goal of the moratorium is to ensure that warehouses are in the right place and at the right numbers so that they don’t impact the quality of life of our residents.”
Richard Connolly, a Scotchtown resident, spoke in support of the extension at the town board meeting.
“Warehouses were popping up everywhere, and they were changing the landscape of the area,” he told The Epoch Times. “I want to see smarter growth and some of the outdoor space being preserved.”
Mr. Johnson, the master plan committee chair, presented a preliminary list of warehouse zoning changes at a town board work session in August.
The central idea, he told The Epoch Times at the time, is to limit large-scale warehouses to major intersections while still allowing smaller distribution centers to develop in a broader area of the town.
Nine members from different walks of life and across the town sit on the master plan committee, which meets on the first and third Mondays at the town hall.
The Town of Wallkill also passed a 12-month moratorium on new developments within the Shawangunk Kill corridor preservation overlay district in May.
That moratorium was put in place to allow time for a four-season environmental study of the natural resources within the stream corridor that will serve as the basis for new zoning changes by the master plan review committee.
Mr. Serrano told The Epoch Times that the request for a proposal for the study is still under review.
