Town of Kent Sold Itself Short By Granting Easement, Getting Little in Return

At its meeting/workshop on Aug. 17, the Kent Town Board conferred a significant monetary benefit on the owner of a landlocked property bordering the town’s property at 25 Sybil’s Crossing.

By voting to grant an easement over the access to the town’s recycling center that will give access to the owner (Sunberry Properties, LLC) of the 135-acre lot adjacent to the town property and the recycling center, the board has significantly increased the market value of Sunberry’s lot. In return, the town will gain a net two acres of land to add to its lot behind the Town Center. If I owned the lot that the town does, I would expect greater compensation from Sunberry in return for granting the easement.

Sunberry’s lot is inaccessible from Route 52 or from Bowen Road. This makes development of the property impossible without access. Sunberry’s overture to the town is about the fourth such effort after previous owners Foursome Partners, Newburgh Boxing Club, Inc. and S H Real Estate Holding Corp. have tried. Sunberry is candid that its overture is to enable it to market the property for sale to a developer, who will go through the process of developing the land with buildings and related infrastructure. Sunberry will not develop the land.

Furthermore, there are two other landlocked lots adjacent to Sunberry’s. The owner of these lots is Real Holding Corp., owned by Vincent Cappelletti, who is owner and CEO of Newburgh Boxing Club, Inc. Sunberry will be able to grant easements to these two lots, thereby increasing their market value.

I urge Kent property owners/taxpayers to join me in protesting this giveaway to Sunberry Properties. In exchange for the easement, the board should have extracted some of the increase in value that has accrued to Sunberry.

Clifford G. Narbey
Kent

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