Warwick board approves Ball Farm’s inclusion in agricultural overlay and establishes drainage district after resident flooding concerns

Supervisor Dwire and the Town of Warwick Board on June 25 adopted measures to include the Ball Farm parcel in the town’s Agricultural Protection Overlay (APO) and to establish a Ball Farm Drainage District, actions tied to a 14-home cluster subdivision that will preserve about 30 of the site’s roughly 40 acres as permanent open space.

The board’s resolution declares the parcel (identified in town records as Section 53, Block 1, Lot 37.2) eligible to participate in the APO; town materials say the approved site plan calls for 14 single-family homes, with roughly 10 acres to be developed and 30 acres deed-restricted as preserved open space. Under the planning-board conditions, the developer must contribute $2,500 per lot to the town’s parkland fund. The subdivision will also include a single affordable lot established under the town’s code; town staff said the pricing and application process for that affordable lot are being finalized with input from the attorney, town staff and a local credit union.

At the meeting, nearby residents pressed the board about stormwater risks. A resident who identified her address as 191 South Street Extension said her property flooded last Christmas and described regular runoff that now rushes onto her yard. “My property got flooded last year… it comes down my property like a waterfall,” she said. Supervisor Dwire and DPW Commissioner Estserino told the resident that the planning board’s site-plan review included engineering oversight and that the drainage-district approach assigns stormwater-management costs to the development and its future homeowners rather than town taxpayers. The town noted a planned detention pond on the subdivision and told residents the design is intended to avoid increasing runoff to adjacent properties.

The board also adopted an order establishing the Ball Farm Drainage District by petition of Honey Crisp Developers LLC. The order cites the Ball Farm Cluster Subdivision Drainage District Improvement Plan and directs the town clerk to record the order and file required documents. The town stated the annual cost to a typical property owner in the drainage district will be approximately $523 and that homes in the district will be assessed on a per-unit basis using an equivalent residential unit (ERU) method.

The town emphasized that if the drainage-district measure were not adopted, taxpayers could be exposed to maintenance costs, and that the district formalizes maintenance and cost allocation. Town staff invited concerned neighbors to meet with DPW and the town engineer to review drainage details and the approved site plans.

The resolution to include the parcel in the APO and the order establishing the drainage district were carried by voice vote and formal roll call where recorded; the board directed updates to the town’s zoning appendix and APO qualifying map to reflect the new participating parcel. The clerk will record the drainage-district order with Orange County and complete state filing requirements.

The board’s action followed the planning board’s earlier site-plan approvals and represents a mix of preservation conditions (permanent deed restrictions and parkland contributions) and infrastructure cost-shifting to the development through the drainage district.