By ADAM ATKINSON

North Country This Week

CANTON – The town and village boards have accepted a petition requesting annexation into the village of a 3.3-acre lot that sits within the town along Sullivan Drive. The annexation will allow installation of village water and sewer services to a planned housing development there.

Both municipalities now have 90 days to approve the annexation.

Argent Developments, which owns the lot surrounded by village land on three sides, filed the petition with the town and village clerks in May. The site already features a high-end six-unit apartment building, The Village Flats, built by Argent a few years ago.

The boards accepted the petition and discussed the proposed development at a public hearing on Tuesday, July 30.

The village, with approval by the town board, is to do a State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) study of the proposed annexation within the 90-day period. The public will have the standard 20-day period of public review of the SEQR once it is complete.

If the annexation is approved by both boards after the SEQR is reviewed, general municipal law requires the town hold a special election for the registered voters residing within the territory to be annexed to approve village takeover of the town land, said village attorney Gerald Ducharme. At the meeting July 30, Ducharme told the boards that the county board of elections has certified that there are six residents within the area to be annexed, of which four are registered to vote.

The members of both boards briefly discussed the expense of setting up a special election for such a small number of voters.

“There may be another way to do this,” said Ducharme. The attorney said general municipal law may allow the voters in the annexation zone to sign a notarized statement approving the annexation instead of holding a special election.

“I think Gerry (Ducharme) described a viable option that makes a lot of sense,” said Village Mayor Mike Dalton.

Kenny Moore of Argent Developments who attended the public hearing said the planned development at the lot could be single-family housing or possibly duplexes. Exact plans will have to be confirmed once the annexation is complete and the village zones the land for approved usages, he said when talking with the boards.

The company originally had planned to build several more apartment units on the property.

Company representatives have said previously they changed their plan from apartment units to houses to meet market demand.

The developer plans to construct housing matching style and design of the existing apartment building. Three to five houses could be built on the site, featuring 1200 to 1400 square feet of living space and three bedrooms each.

The current apartment unit there receives village water and sewer services through an agreement reached with the village several years ago. That agreement does not now allow those services to be extended throughout the lot to potential development of single family residences or duplexes.

The annexation into the village will allow extension of village water and sewer services throughout the lot to the housing sites proposed.