Critical $607-Million Amazon Project Vote in Orange County Postponed Until Oct. 22

SLATE HILL—The vote by the Town of Wawayanda Planning Board that will determine the fate of an estimated $607-million Amazon distribution center has been pushed back two weeks.

The Planning Board had scheduled the vote on a needed height variance and the site plan for the 3.2-million-sf project for Oct. 8, but recently posted the agenda for the session on its website that has the Amazon project vote rescheduled for Oct. 22.

The controversial project proposed by a partnership of Scannell Properties and Amazon Services, LLC, is considered to be among the largest-ever private investment projects in Orange County. The plan calls for the construction of a five-story Amazon robotic fulfillment and distribution center on McBride Road in Slate Hill. Each floor (two below grade and three above grade) would total approximately 600,000 sf. The project has received support from the Hudson Valley Building & Construction Trades Council and the Construction Contractors Association of the Hudson Valley and the Orange County Partnership.

Some observers had written off the project as dead back in June when the Town of Wawayanda’s Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously (4-0) to reject a needed height variance for the Amazon project.

However, developer Scannell Properties re-emerged on Aug. 13 before the Wawayanda Planning Board stating that Town Code 195-13 specifically allows for a project to be granted a height exemption if its fire-fighting capacity is sufficient and if its property buffers are greater than required.

Matt Boone, development manager of Indianapolis, IN-based Scannell Properties, testified before the Planning Board that the project meets both exemption requirements and that its fire suppression system had recently been approved by the Department of State. In terms of setbacks, Boone noted that the project offers setbacks that range between 650% to 2,000% greater than the setback requirements by the town.

The Scannell project, also known as “Project Bluebird,” received a favorable negative declaration by the Planning Board in June on its requested special use permit. However, the project failed to garner the necessary height variance (from 35 feet to approximately 66 feet) from the ZBA to allow it to proceed any further.

A public hearing on the Scannell height variance request was held on Sept. 10 and at that session the Planning Board closed the public hearing and scheduled the Oct. 8 vote on the height variance and site plan application.

The developer, in addition to seeking the Planning Board’s approval, has gone to court in connection with the ZBA denial. Scannell Development and the property owner Aden Slate Hill, LLC filed an Article 78 proceeding on July 24 in the New York State Supreme Court in Orange County against the Town of Wawayanda and the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals and is seeking to have the ZBA’s denial vote annulled and have the court compel the ZBA to approve Scannell’s height variance. Among its charges contained in the lawsuit, Scannell noted that the ZBA previously approved a similar height variance to Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) energy plant.

The Town of Wawayanda and ZBA have denied allegations contained in Scannell’s Article 78 proceeding and are seeking to have the court dismiss the litigation against both the Town of Wawayanda and its ZBA.

Back in 2023, Scannell and Amazon secured approvals for a 900,000-square-foot warehouse at the 22 McBride Road site, but eventually submitted a much larger proposal. The 100-acre property is currently an active quarry.