NY Non-Profit Sues Ramapo for Planning to Develop Land Designated for Parks

By Sarah Morgenstern

The Village of New Hempstead gave 25 acres of land at 301 Pomona Road to Ramapo in 2017, but a NY land conservancy non-profit says that the land, which is dedicated to parks, was illegally gifted.

Skyview Acres Land Trust, a New York non-profit whose aim is to preserve land, have filed a lawsuit against Ramapo claiming that NY state law requires the New Legislature to pre-approve all potential sales and transfers of designated park land.

Four years ago, the Ramapo Local Development Corporation sold the land to private developer Parkway Gateway Development LLC, but Skyview Acres Land Trust says in 2005, New Hempstead originally acquired the land, which was valued at $3.75 million, to preserve it as open space.

Then, in 2017, the Local Development Corporation sold the land in 2017 to Parkway Gateway for $5.7 million, although according to the suit, only $1 million of the purchase price was paid at the time, reported rcbizjournal.

The remaining $4.7 million, the parties agreed, would be lowered if the Local Development Corporation used less than 485,000 square feet for mixed-use development. 

The deal also included provisions for the Local Development Corporation to share the profits from the development, but the suit says that agreement was never honored.

In 2021, the Village of New Hempstead amended and updated its comprehensive plan to rezone the parcel of land at 301 Pomona Road to allow for a planned unit development, commercial use, residential use and/or a hotel. 

A separate lawsuit is pending that challenges the New Hempstead’s amendment of its comprehensive plan that re-zoned the land at 301 Pomona Road.