State appeals court backs Greenburgh Supervisor Feiner to void Edgemont incorporation bid

• The court overturned state Supreme Court Justice Susan Cacace's 2018 ruling in favor of the petition
• The incorporation committee was considering its options, including an appeal to NY's highest court

Tax Watch columnist David McKay Wilson reports an appeals court decision on Edgemont incorporation. 

The campaign to incorporate Edgemont as Greenburgh’s seventh village suffered a major blow Wednesday.

A state appeals court backed town Supervisor Paul Feiner’s bid to reject its petition to hold a referendum on the issue. 

In a unanimous decision, a four-judge panel of the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, Second Department, backed Feiner’s argument that the Edgemont campaign failed to submit a proper map of the proposed village. It also agreed with Feiner that the petition lacked a full list of the town's inhabitants.

Feiner had argued that the list must include the names of all children in the proposed village, as well as all of its adult residents. The court overturned state Supreme Court Justice Susan Cacace's 2018 ruling in favor of the petition. 

“I expected it,” said Feiner. “What’s good for Greenburgh is that the court is requiring anyone who wants to become a village to comply with the law. New York state doesn’t want every wealthy community to incorporate and break away from the rest of their municipality. It was written on purpose to make it tough.”

The decision stunned Edgemont incorporation proponents.

Robert Bernstein, an Edgemont attorney whose name was on the incorporation petition, said the incorporation committee was considering its options, which could include an appeal to the state Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court.

The Edgemont Incorporation Committee used the boundaries for the Greenville Fire District.

“The town has used these boundaries for 95 years,” Bernstein said. “There is no uncertainty.”

Incorporation Committee Co-chair Jeff Sherwin vowed to continue the fight to ensure that Edgemont residents get to vote on whether they want to form a village, a right enshrined in the state constitution. 

"We're disappointed by the court's ruling, but in no way discouraged from the incorporation process," Sherwin said. "It's a long, bumpy road. Things that are worth doing are sometimes hard. We absolutely think this is worth doing."

Greenburgh had argued that the preface to the map used by Edgemont had mentioned a previous map from the 19th century that mentioned the Edgemont school district boundaries, which are slightly different than the fire district boundaries.

“The language that mentioned the school district was confusing,” said Town Attorney Tim Lewis. “There was ambiguity.”

The state law required the petition to include a list of “regular inhabitants” so that proponents could show that they had a minimum of 500 residents in the proposed village. They turned in more than 5,000 names. Incorporation proponents believed they could satisfy the minimum by listing registered voters. 

“The statute language suggests you need to include the children as well as adults,” Lewis said. “And they didn’t list the children.”

Bernstein said such a mandate would require incorporation proponents to conduct a house-to-house census in order to hold a referendum on incorporation.

“It would be chilling to put in the names of all children, and their addresses,” Bernstein said. “And children up to five years old — how would you get their names?”

CLASS: Edgemont incorporation battle involves class issues 

VILLAGE BID: Edgemont incorporation effort gets launched 

PUSHING: Village push in Edgemont moves forward        

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