Chaptzem Blog!      

An appellate judge sided with a Bloomingburg developer Monday when he removed any legal restrictions that were preventing families from moving into controversial Hasidic residences.

 

Certificates of occupancy issued a week and a half ago for 24 homes in Chestnut Ridge on the edge of Bloomingburg are once again valid, after developer Shalom Lamm and his company Sullivan Farms took their case to appellate judge Michael Lynch Monday afternoon. The decision comes as the latest stage in a string of court appearances between the Town of Mamakating, the Village of Bloomingburg and Lamm over the last month.

 

Mamakating tried to have a temporary restraining order issued against Bloomingburg to prevent the village building inspector from issuing any certificates of occupancy. After declining to address the issue until certificates were granted, Sullivan County Judge Stephan Shick issued a temporary restraining order last Thursday that prevented anyone from moving into the homes, and he set a hearing for Sept. 8.

 

Lynch essentially issued his own temporary restraining order Monday, restraining enforcement of Shick's order, explained Bloomingburg village attorney Steve Mogel. As of Monday afternoon, there is no more restriction on when people can move in. A previous agreement that no residents would move in until after Aug. 27 is no longer in effect.

 

Now that the certificates of occupancy are again valid, Lamm said he will continue the process of obtaining certificates of occupancy for the other completed residences in Chestnut Ridge, and families under contract for their homes can work on finishing their mortgage and title paperwork. The Sept. 8 hearing is still in effect, and Mamakating's lawsuit will continue, but Lamm said he believes he is on the right side of the law.

 

"We really feel confident that we are well within the bounds of the spirit and the letter of the law," Lamm said.