Settlement scrutinized
By JAMES WALSH
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: July 27, 2005)
A village Planning Board meeting to start the environmental review for a proposed yeshiva with housing for students and faculty was adjourned last night so the village's attorneys could determine the legality of a court settlement with the developer.
A concern was that the federal court settlement with Congregation Michknois Lavier Yakov may have sidestepped state zoning requirements.
"There are ways to amend zoning," said Patrick Fitzmaurice, an attorney representing the village, "and the case law shows that a stipulation in a settlement is not one of them."
Zoning variances, for example, can be granted by a zoning board of appeals, and zoning laws are the domain of a legislative body such as a town or village board.
Fitzmaurice requested the adjournment while his law firm, Thatcher Proffitt and Wood of White Plains, seeks guidance from the federal judge who presided over the January settlement. The lawsuit brought by the congregation accused the village of discrimination for not providing a zone for dormitory housing connected to religious schools.
Dennis Lynch, a Nyack attorney representing the congregation, opposed the adjournment.
"We think the board should go forward with the application," Lynch said.
Planning Board Chairman Dennis Cohen, though, agreed to adjourn the session.
"The questions are serious enough to warrant this relatively short delay," said Fitzmaurice, although he did not estimate how long it would take.
The meeting in the Regency Ballroom of the Holiday Inn drew more than 200 people. Cohen gave the audience nearly an hour to express its concerns about the proposed development on 19 acres along Hillside Avenue.
"Hillside Avenue is a beautiful, quiet, residential rural area," said Michelle Finley, a resident of the street. "If this is allowed to pass, that little bit of heaven in Rockland will be gone forever."
Cohen told the audience, which included residents of New Jersey, that the board would consider environmental matters that could be impacted by a development with housing for as many as 200 students and faculty, some with families. He said traffic, water and the capacity of sewers in the neighborhood would be among the issues.
Speakers raised such concerns, as well as forever altering their block with multi-family housing.
"It seems that what this board is being asked to do is spot zoning," said Robert Rhodes, chairman of Preserve Ramapo, a group opposed to such development.
He cautioned the board that incremental changes would have a cumulative impact on the neighborhood and surrounding areas.
The project has generated opposition from both sides of the state line, while federal prosecutors are suing Airmont for prohibiting dormitories connected to religious schools.
The settlement, which is being contested in court by the Hillside Avenue Preservation Association, gives the congregation the right to present its project to the board.
[בילד – נישט אפגעהיט]
By JAMES WALSH
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: July 27, 2005)
A village Planning Board meeting to start the environmental review for a proposed yeshiva with housing for students and faculty was adjourned last night so the village's attorneys could determine the legality of a court settlement with the developer.
A concern was that the federal court settlement with Congregation Michknois Lavier Yakov may have sidestepped state zoning requirements.
"There are ways to amend zoning," said Patrick Fitzmaurice, an attorney representing the village, "and the case law shows that a stipulation in a settlement is not one of them."
Zoning variances, for example, can be granted by a zoning board of appeals, and zoning laws are the domain of a legislative body such as a town or village board.
Fitzmaurice requested the adjournment while his law firm, Thatcher Proffitt and Wood of White Plains, seeks guidance from the federal judge who presided over the January settlement. The lawsuit brought by the congregation accused the village of discrimination for not providing a zone for dormitory housing connected to religious schools.
Dennis Lynch, a Nyack attorney representing the congregation, opposed the adjournment.
"We think the board should go forward with the application," Lynch said.
Planning Board Chairman Dennis Cohen, though, agreed to adjourn the session.
"The questions are serious enough to warrant this relatively short delay," said Fitzmaurice, although he did not estimate how long it would take.
The meeting in the Regency Ballroom of the Holiday Inn drew more than 200 people. Cohen gave the audience nearly an hour to express its concerns about the proposed development on 19 acres along Hillside Avenue.
"Hillside Avenue is a beautiful, quiet, residential rural area," said Michelle Finley, a resident of the street. "If this is allowed to pass, that little bit of heaven in Rockland will be gone forever."
Cohen told the audience, which included residents of New Jersey, that the board would consider environmental matters that could be impacted by a development with housing for as many as 200 students and faculty, some with families. He said traffic, water and the capacity of sewers in the neighborhood would be among the issues.
Speakers raised such concerns, as well as forever altering their block with multi-family housing.
"It seems that what this board is being asked to do is spot zoning," said Robert Rhodes, chairman of Preserve Ramapo, a group opposed to such development.
He cautioned the board that incremental changes would have a cumulative impact on the neighborhood and surrounding areas.
The project has generated opposition from both sides of the state line, while federal prosecutors are suing Airmont for prohibiting dormitories connected to religious schools.
The settlement, which is being contested in court by the Hillside Avenue Preservation Association, gives the congregation the right to present its project to the board.
[בילד – נישט אפגעהיט]