Appellate Division Reverses Supreme Court Ruling On Narrow Issue, While Rejecting Feiner’s Primary Grounds For Denying Edgemont Incorporation Petition

In the latest chapter in Edgemont’s ongoing battle to hold a vote on whether to incorporate as a village, the Appellate Division, Second Department has reversed the ruling by Justice Cacace that ordered Supervisor Feiner to hold a referendum on the matter.

Importantly, the Court soundly rejected Feiner’s arguments that the petition to incorporate was defective because it did not include a List of Regular Inhabitants that identified each and every minor child in Edgemont by name and address.  The Court ruled that the efforts the EIC took to identify the regular inhabitants of Edgemont, and identifying children anonymously when necessary, was sufficient under the Village Law. 

Unfortunately, the Court agreed with Feiner’s argument that the description of the proposed territory set forth in the petition was not sufficient under the statute, even though it was derived from the same metes and bounds description that has been used for nearly a century to define the Greenville Fire District.  The Court noted that the exact parameters of that district have been disputed by the neighboring Hartsdale Fire District, and that this dispute in turn made the description of the proposed territory of the Village insufficiently certain.

The EIC is currently reviewing the decision and considering all options, but make no mistake: the movement continues, and the EIC remains fully committed to taking all steps necessary to have a vote so that the matter of village incorporation can be decided by the people of Edgemont.