Owners of the Orange County fairgrounds, a 100-acre property near the Wallkill-Middletown border that hosts the county fair and popular dirt track races, pushed back against the ban during a public hearing in October, arguing that the moratorium could topple their pending deal to sell it. There are 17 warehouse projects totaling more than 7 million square feet in various stages of the planning process. Warehouse development is a hot trend in the surrounding towns and in the region.

The six-month stay on warehouse development, approved unanimously by the Town Board in November, resulted from a surge in proposals to build facilities throughout the Middletown area. The prospective sale of the Orange County fairgrounds and speedway could be disrupted by a temporary moratorium on warehouse and distribution development in the Town of Walkill. Pending Sale of Orange County Fairgrounds Could Be Disrupted By Town’s Temporary Moratorium On Warehouse Development