The long-running dispute over a 72-acre parcel in Yates County continues tonight with a public hearing at the Town of Milo Town Hall.
Town officials are considering acquiring the former McFetridge Farm at 2442 Old Route 14A that is located out back of Tractor Supply and is owned by Finger Lakes Economic Development Center. If acquired, the town would place a permanent agricultural conservation easement on the property and would block future development and ensure the land remains in agricultural use. The hearing begins at 6 p.m.
The property is owned by the Finger Lakes Economic Development Center and sits in an agriculturally zoned area of the town. The Center, working with the Village of Penn Yan, had previously sought to annex the parcel into the village with plans for a mixed-use housing development.
The Town of Milo rejected that annexation petition, setting off a series of legal challenges. The town filed an Article 78 lawsuit, arguing the village did not properly conduct its review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, commonly known as SEQRA.
The case made its way to State Supreme Court, where a judge ruled in favor of the Village of Penn Yan and the Finger Lakes Economic Development Center, finding that the environmental review had been completed correctly.
The legal battle has continued. The Finger Lakes Economic Development Center filed an appeal challenging Milo’s rejection of the annexation request. The town, in turn, asked the court to vacate and annul the village’s environmental findings, which determined the proposed annexation would not create significant environmental impacts.
In Town of Milo v. Village of Penn Yan, Judge Arthur Williams denied the town’s request in a ruling issued October 22, upholding the village’s environmental review determination.
Steve Griffin, President and CEO of the Finger Lakes Economic Development Center, spoke to WFLR in January after a letter was sent out to Milo residents announcing tonight’s public hearing by the town that he stated was “full of inaccurate and misleading information.”
Town leaders now say preserving the land as farmland would help maintain a green space buffer between Milo residents and the Village of Penn Yan at the northern end of the town.
