Goshen again considers giving up land to Florida

Senior citizen housing will help offset costs, developer says, By Leslie Cosgrove Goshen — Goshen is reconsidering annexing two properties to the Village of Florida, after rejecting a petition from the same applicant last year. Goshen was initially concerned that the town would no longer be one contiguous tract of land, and the annexation would isolate several properties, possibly presenting problems for emergency services coverage and the school systems. The new petition addresses those concerns, said Goshen attorney Alan Lipman, representing the petitioner El Karpo, Ltd., and its chief executive officer and sole stockholder, Elias Muhlrad, during a joint public hearing of the Town of Goshen and the Village of Florida earlier this month. By including an additional and adjacent five-acre parcel in the annexation, he said, “We’ve done about as good a job as we can do.” The remaining adjacent properties, including the Werners, will remain isolated from rest of Goshen except for a connection via Route 17A. The town’s attorney, Rick Golden, said both municipalities must evaluate the public’s comments to determine whether the petition was filed in accordance with municipal law and is in the public interest. Lipman presented a map of the two parcels and the surrounding properties in relation to the Goshen-Florida boundary. In addition to Muhlrad’s 35-acre parcel, Gary and Katharine Randall have agreed to include their adjacent five-acre parcel nestled between Muhlrad’s property and the Florida boundary in the proposed annexation. The Werner family, owners of three other adjacent properties between the Muhlrad property and the Florida line, have refused to be annexed. The town also cited the loss of tax revenue from the annexed land when rejecting the first petition. To address this, Lipman said Muhlrad plans to develop senior citizen housing in a 105-unit planned adult community on this parcel, and he will commit to issuing a check for $1,000 for each unit completed—a total of $105,000. Also, the village’s building inspector will not issue a certificate of occupancy for any unit until the Town of Goshen confirms the check has been received. Lipman said his client will also agree to build no more than 105 units as specified by the town’s zoning regulations, even if Florida’s zoning code allows more. Jane Samuelson of Engineering Properties, PC, said the annexation would be in the public’s best interest because the proposed senior citizen housing will use Florida’s water and sewer systems. She also said that planned adult communities generate up to 40 percent less traffic than other developments, and its residents tend to have more disposable income to spend in the community than other homeowners. In addition, these residents pay taxes yet contribute no schoolchildren to the school systems. Town resident and planning board member Reynell Andrews questioned the financial impact of annexation on Goshen. When none of the representatives from either municipality could provide any monetary figures, he asked, “How does anybody make a decision if you don’t know the numbers?” Andrews was reminded that it was a public hearing, and no decision would be made that night. Lipman said he could not recall the figures from the previous annexation petition, but he said that “in the short run,” the $105,000 would exceed any revenue loss to the town. Councilman Lou Capella said he approached budget officer Bill Standish last year to find out how much tax revenue 105 units would generate, but Capella couldn’t recollect an exact dollar amount. “Goshen’s town board should examine those [dollar figures] extremely carefully before they make any decision,” cautioned Andrews.