Thursday, July 30, 2015
Mamakating may sue Bloomingburg over Chestnut Ridge
The Town of Mamakating is poised to go to court to stop the Village of Bloomingburg from allowing people to move into a controversial local development.
In two special meetings Monday night, Mamakating's town board and planning board each passed resolutions saying that if the Bloomingburg village board issues certificates of occupancy for finished units within the massive Chestnut Ridge development, Mamakating will take legal action against the village.
The Chestnut Ridge development, which will eventually include 396 units designed to attract Hasidic Jews, has become mired in lawsuits. Developer Shalom Lamm filed a $25 million suit against Mamakating and Bloomingburg last fall, alleging government backed anti-Semitism, and the two municipalities answered with a racketeering lawsuit against Lamm in April.
Bloomingburg has not yet issued certificates of occupancy for the approximately 48 completed residences in Chestnut Ridge, but Mamakating Supervisor Bill Herrmann said the town board held its special meeting Monday so it would be prepared if those certificates were issued this week. Nearly identical resolutions were passed by both the town board and the planning board, which declare that the two entities will file an Article 78 lawsuit against Bloomingburg to enjoin the village building inspector against issuing certificates of occupancy for the development.
The town opposes the certificates of occupancy because Lamm has not complied with all the conditions set by the planning board, formerly overseen by the village and now overseen by the town, Herrmann said. Lamm has not complied with planning board rules regarding its water supply, including getting approval from the town for the location of the development's well. The rules are the rules, Herrmann said, and Lamm's development must abide by them.
"We are not going to stand by and let anything slide by that's not proper," Herrmann said.
The village board has not issued the certificates yet because the village does not believe Lamm has finished everything the building inspector requires, according to village attorney Steve Mogel. However, the village and the town disagree on what is left for Lamm to do. The items of disagreement are things upon which reasonable minds may differ, Mogel said.
"Ultimately we may well need the intervention of the court," Mogel said.
Comments:
Post a Comment
