Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on March 10, 2017

Richard J. Bayne Times Herald-Record @RichardBayne845

BLOOMINGBURG Opponents who had come to Thursdays Planning Board meeting prepared to speak against a temporary community center at the controversial Chestnut Ridge development shouted protests at the board chairman when he abruptly canceled the meeting because he couldnt get a quorum.

One resident accosted the Planning Board chairman, Chaim Friedman, because, the accuser said, electrical workers were on the job site, at 1-3 Cherry Court, yet the public hearing on the site plan hadn't occurred. Youre a lying sack of (expletive), the man told Friedman.

Friedman, who is Hasidic, told the angry resident the contractors have a demolition permit to work at the Cherry Court buildings, which is legal under village law in advance of site plan approval. Im not the code enforcer, Friedman said. File a complaint.

The two townhouses that are to be converted into a temporary community center are located near the entrance to the development. Construction crews were at work Thursday, using front-end loaders. There was a trash container parked in the driveway of one of the townhouses.

Chestnut Ridge is the subject of a lawsuit, filed a week ago by the Town of Mamakating. The town is seeking to have the court annul the village's approvals of the 396-unit townhouse development and require the developers to file new applications.

Opposition has focused on the fact that the developers proposed a luxury golf course development, but the plans morphed into townhouses, apparently marketed toward a Hasidic clientele, with occupancy as high as 10 people per unit.

On Tuesday, the Village Board certified that the townhouse-community center conversion met SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) requirements, a necessary step before the Planning Boards site plan consideration could occur.

As Thursdays meeting dissolved, Holly Roche, president of the opposition group Rural Community Coalition, asked Freidman why the Planning Board had set up Thursdays hearing before the Village Board certified SEQRA. Its like setting a date for a wedding before you get engaged. Roche said.

Friedman said the board had had no intention of approving the site plan after Thursdays planned public hearing. He said that would not have been possible because the project is still waiting for approvals from Sullivan County.

The Planning Board, which should have five members, was already down one because member Bob Cassidy resigned two weeks ago. On Thursday, members Moshe Fried and Jim Johnson didnt show. Friedman and only one other member, Moshe Gancz, were there.

Friedman said he couldn't immediately say when the community center conversion issue would come up. Regularly scheduled meetings are generally held on the fourth Thursday of each month.

dbayne@th-record.com

Go here to see the original:
Residents angry after Bloomingburg Planning Board meeting cancelled - Times Herald-Record

Category: Hasidic
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