Two communities in Orange County are at the center of a warehouse boom with nearly two dozen projects on the table, some that are already being built.

Wawayanda town documents obtained by News 12 show the municipality has 10 open projects in review, with millions in square footage on the table.

In Montgomery, the building inspector says the town has five warehouses under construction, two more that are slated to be built in the fall and another two that are at the planning board stage.

County residents have traffic, environmental, health and quality-of-life concerns.

“I feel like the town has gone out of control,” says Wawayanda resident Charles Kangethe, who’s a member of the activist group Save Wawayanda. “I moved to Wawayanda from the city to have a good life for my family. It doesn’t take a genius to know when all these warehouses are erected, the cumulative impact will be so enormous that it will be unsafe and unhealthy.”

News 12 reached out to the supervisors of both towns for information.

"COVID has permanently altered consumer habits, leading to increased demand in e-commerce and next day delivery, resulting in increased demand for modern warehouse space near interstate highways," says Wawayanda Town Supervisor Denise Quinn. "The Town of Wawayanda is committed to keeping taxes low and creating jobs, while maintaining our rural community character in residential areas. Our goal is to keep development proximate to I-84 and commercial corridors, in an effort to balance commerce with quality of life."

The Montomery town supervisor has not respond to our inquiry.

“It’s a ruination. It’s an industrialization of rural communities,” says Pramilla Malick, chair of Preserve Orange County. “This is all thanks to the whole Orange County Partnership that has been inviting all these businesses into Orange County and once again, we are talking about enormous amounts of trucks and truck traffic on small, rural roads.”

The Orange County Partnership is a private entity that helps businesses with site selection, financing options, employment training, marketing and public economic-development support. It recently made headlines following a state appellate court ruling that found the entity is subject to public disclosure laws as a public agency.

CEO Maureen Halahan says the county is a gateway to Northeast markets and that plans, if approved, will be a local and state economic driver.

“Our towns are doing a great job balancing quality of life with economic development – locating projects near the interstate highways while mitigating impacts to community character,” says Halahan.

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus says the county is preserving thousands of acres a year through the Orange County Land Trust.

He says towns have the option of putting a moratorium on development and can also purchase land to keep as green space.

So far, it’s not clear what businesses are coming in. Halahan says the Partnership expects to continue to see logistics, advanced manufacturing and tech economic development opportunities seeking sites in Orange County and communities along I-84.