In Matter of City of Middletown v. Town Board of Town of Wallkill , Mt. Hope Development Corp. and Montrose VA Project, LLC asked the Town of Wallkill to provide water and sewer service to their property.
Though there were several meetings to discuss the "possibility of creating a cooperative water and sewer district with the City of Middletown ," Wallkill took no action for two years.
Hope and Montrose later submitted a Petition for Annexation (PA) to the Town Board seeking to have their property incorporated into the City of Middleton . After a public hearing, the Town Board denied the request, finding the "proposed annexation was not in the public interest ... and failed to comply with the requirements of ... the General Municipal Law ... in that it would affect state senate and assembly districts." The Board also determined an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was required.
When a lawsuit was filed, the Orange County Supreme Court transferred the matter to the Appellate Division, Second Department, which found the Town Board erred in denying the PA because, at the public hearing, objections were "required to be placed on the record through 'oral testimony' and submitted 'in writing' to the governing boards holding the public hearing." By failing to entertain objections, the Town Board effectively conceded that the PA complied with the law.
According to the AD2, the law governing boundaries of congressional, senate, and assembly districts was only a restriction, not an "outright prohibition," and despite the annexation "the boundaries of State legislative districts would remain the same."
Finally, Hope and Montrose weren't required to submit an EIS "since no specific plan for the property had been officially submitted."
I guess you could say the Town didn't succede.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Matter of City of Middletown v. Town Board of Town of Wallkill