CITY OF NEWBURGH – Newburgh’s City Council approved a resolution supporting a 91-unit affordable apartment and grocery store project that has drawn opposition from some residents and a threatened lawsuit from the developer.

Four members of the seven-person Council voted Tuesday to support Mill Street Partners’ long-delayed plan to build the apartments and a Market Fresh grocery on a vacant city-owned parcel on Broadway between Johnston and Lander streets.

Councilman Torrance Harvey joined Councilwomen Regina Angelo, Cindy Holmes and Hillary Rayford in approving the resolution, which gives “conceptual support” to Mill Street as it applies for the state tax credits that will fund most of the $30 million project.

Mayor Judy Kennedy, a critic of the project, and Councilwoman Karen Mejia abstained from the vote. Councilwoman Genie Abrams, who has also publicly criticized the proposal, was absent.

“There are grave concerns that the citizens have brought to the table,” Harvey said. “I just want to remind the public that this is a project that was inherited by this legislative body.”

Just last week Mill Street sent a notice to the city accusing it of defaulting on the development agreement, which was approved in 2012 by a previous Council.

Mill Street alleged that Newburgh officials and members of the Planning Board were working to delay the project, and it threatened to file a lawsuit seeking to seek $1 million in project costs and $30 million in damages under the Fair Housing Act.

lsparks@th-record.com