כעלמער קהל אין לפידות מאכט חילול השם

WHITE LAKE — The Town of Bethel has ordered a Hasidic bungalow colony to stop using a partially finished community center — but the colony has been brushing off the town's warnings.

Residents of the colony on Schultz Road this month started using the large center without a certificate of occupancy, Town Supervisor Daniel Sturm said.

On Wednesday, the town issued a stop work order and ordered residents to vacate the building, but members of the colony have since been spotted inside the facility.

''We are trying to stop them,'' Sturm said on Friday. ''I think they are trying to occupy it still. We are monitoring it every day.''

The community center, located about 1,000 feet off Route 17B, is within easy eyesight of the road.

The colony is owned by United Talmudical Academy Torah NEYIRAH, which has a Brooklyn mailing address, according to town records.

Bethel residents have lodged numerous complaints that colony members was using the building. UTA has a permit to build the 6,900 square-foot center, but it had not been finished or inspected, town officials say.

Engineer Michael Weeks, of McGoey, Hauser and Edsall, visited the property Tuesday evening and deemed it unsafe. Weeks wrote in a letter he noticed several people coming and going from the building and numerous vehicles parked in front.

The unfinished parking area had extremely steep sides slopes, and had not been properly graded. There were no guide rails or clear pedestrian access to the building.

''At present, this site poses a clear danger to its users and other members of the public,'' he wrote.

Sturm said the town will issue violations and these will continue as long as the colony continues to violate the order not to use the building. The town also plans a detailed site plan and building review to determine if the colony has complied with the building permit.

''We are taking this very seriously and doing everything we can to make sure people are safe,'' Sturm said.

vwhitman@th-record.com