Politics & Government

Briarcliff Receives Annexation Petition from Ossining Town Residents

The village board will decide whether to accept the petition at tonight's 7:30 p.m. meeting.

An idea more two years in the making has taken the first legal step in Briarcliff Manor.

Village Manager Philip Zegarelli confirmed to Patch Thursday morning that the village has received a formal petition from at least 20 percent of Town of Ossining election districts 17 & 20 residents seeking annexation into the village.

The petition, from an area of the unincorporated town that had about 1,600 residents as of 2009, also must be filed with the Town of Ossining, Zegarelli explained.

This first step, "starts the clock to do the work," he said. "It's not a one, two, three and it's done type of thing."

As part of the state's formal annexation process, the next step will be for there to be joint public hearings (including officials from both municipalities) within 20 to 40 days, said Zegarelli.

Then, both the Town and Village will conduct independent financial analyses of the potential impacts of annexation.

In 2011, Briarcliff Manor shared the results of then analysis of how annexation would affect both current village residents and potential Town of Ossining additions and concluded it would save both parties money.

An annexation would mean the two election districts are absorbed into the village, would pay taxes to the village and utilize village services. However, school district boundaries would remain unaffected.

The discussion ran parallel to the village board's vocal desire to seek complete independence from both the Town of Ossining and Town of Mount Pleasant and become a town-village.

Zegarelli explained if Briarcliff Manor were to achieve town-village status, annexation would be "virtually impossible."

"The state law is that if we were to become a town-village, it would be virtually impossible to annex land from a different town," he explained. "So the Mayor and the Board decided to leave the door open for those who are petitioning for annexation to do what they wanted to try before the village moved ahead on town-villlage government."

At tonight's 7:30 p.m. Board of Trustees meeting, members will vote on whether to accept the petition. The Town of Ossining must do the same.

Ossining Town Supervisor Susanne Donnelly had no comment this early on in the process, as she said, "nothing happens until the petition is given to the Town Clerk."

Zegarelli said he anticipates both municipalities holding public hearings on the issue in the next month or so.

"The petition really means nothing in terms of whether we are going to annex or not," Zegarelli emphasized. "It's really a new book and this is chapter one."

For further reading:
Briarcliff Manor Explores Possible Annexation of Ossining Districts
Briarcliff Shares Annexation Study Findings
Briarcliff-Ossining Annexation Debate
Mixed Reaction to Annexation Study in Ossining
Annexation Discussion Continues in Ossining


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