Skyview Acres Land Trust, a New York nonprofit established as a land conservancy, and other plaintiffs have filed suit against the Town of Ramapo, the Ramapo Local Development Corporation and others asking a Rockland County Supreme Court Judge to enter an order setting aside the transfer of 25 acres of land plaintiff’s claim is dedicated park land.
The suit alleges the land at 301 Pomona Road in the Village of New Hempstead was illegally gifted to the Ramapo Local Development Corporation for private commercial development without approval from the New York State Legislature. New York State law prohibits the sale or transfer of designated park land without legislative approval.
The gifted land was sold in 2017 by Ramapo Local Development Corporation to a private developer, Parkway Gateway Development LLC, a Delaware LLC.
According to the suit, the town originally acquired the land in 2005 to preserve as open space with municipal bonds. The 25-acre parcel on Pomona Road was valued at the time at $3.75 million.
The Local Development Corporation sold the land in 2017 to Parkway Gateway for $5.7 million, though according to the suit, only $1 million of the purchase price was paid at the time. The balance due was subject to adjustment based on proposed plans for 485,000 square feet of mixed-use development. If less than the 485,000 square feet was approved, the price would be adjusted downward,...
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