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St. Lawrence surrenders to Pennsylvania federal prison to begin 30-month term

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US Prison Canaan Pennsylvania“Former Ramapo town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence surrendered Thursday to federal prison officials in Pennsylvania to begin his 30-month term for fraud.

St. Lawrence, 67, arrived at the Federal Prison Camp Canaan, in Waymart, Pennsylvania, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. The camp — with dormitory-style living quarters — is considered a low-security facility, and is next to a high-security prison. [Preserve Ramapo Editor Note: Canaan is the prison Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli requested to serve his 7-year sentence. Shkreli ended up in Brooklyn Municipal Detention Center.] [Read more…]

St. Lawrence reports to prison Thursday, feds say

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Photo of St Lawrence outside White Plains Federal Courthouse

Christopher St. Lawrence and his attorney at Federal Courthouse Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News

“Disgraced former Ramapo town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence is scheduled to start prison life on Thursday.

St. Lawrence, of Wesley Hills, faces 30 months behind bars at a federal penitentiary. His sentence could be shortened by 54 days per year for good behavior under federal rules, which prohibit parole.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons cannot say where St. Lawrence will serve his time until he reports. [Read more…]

Airmont extends building moratorium for three more months

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“The Board of Trustees has extended the village’s building moratorium for another three months to allow a committee to finish its review of zoning regulations governing development, businesses and houses of worship.

The five-member board left the door open for extending the moratorium for an additional three months in June if needed by the Comprehensive Plan Update Committee. [Read more…]

Airmont meeting to discuss Draft of the Comprehensive Plan Update

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Village of Airmont LogoNOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING – March 13, 2018 @ 7:30pm

Draft of Comprehensive Plan Update
The Village of Airmont Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee will hold a public hearing consistent with §7-722 subsection 6B of the NY State Village Law at 7:30pm, or as soon thereafter as possible, on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at Village Hall, located at 251 Cherry Lane, Airmont, New York for the purpose of presenting the Draft of the Updated Comprehensive Plan to the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and to the public for public comment.

The Comprehensive Plan will be the basis for the land use policy of the Village and will guide future growth and development. A copy of the Draft Comprehensive Plan will be available for review at the Village Hall offices and is available online. Please click the link below to view and/or download an electronic copy of the draft.

Click here to View the Updated Comprehensive Plan Draft.

Monsey man demands lawmakers protect seniors from overdevelopment

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Photo: Seth Harrison/ The Journal News  Herrick Avenue, Monsey

Community View in the Rockland County Times

A letter to Senator Carlucci, Assemblyman Zebrowski & Assemblywoman Jaffee from Monsey resident Asher Kaufman

Fourteen years ago the Town of Ramapo produced a Comprehensive Plan and the only mention of Seniors living in single family homes is to say they “no longer need or want the responsibilities associated with maintenance of a single-family home” while completely ignoring that many seniors in the community do want to remain and spent considerable amounts of money maintaining their single-family homes so grandchildren can visit them in the houses their parents grew up in. [Read more…]

Airmont officials may ease rule on minor home improvements, while likely extending building ban

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Village of Airmont Logo“Mayor Philip Gigante has raised the possibility of lifting a restriction on minor home improvements, even as the Board of Trustees considers extending the community’s building moratorium.

The mayor floated the idea of removing the requirement that home-improvement projects greater than 500-square feet obtain a permit. He made the suggestion during a public hearing Tuesday on the moratorium, which drew dozens of residents to Village Hall on Cherry Lane.

More complex projects would continue to require review and permitting by the planning and zoning boards. [Read more…]

Spring Valley Mayor Alan Simon curses out trustee, fires director during rant

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Spring Valley Trustee Sherry McGill (Photo: Journal News File)

Mayor Alan Simon cursed out Trustee Sherry McGill before a meeting on Wednesday, leading critics to say such bullying is what got Simon removed as a judge by the state courts.

Simon went off on McGill after she questioned his decision to arbitrarily dismiss and also curse at the village’s after-school program director during a discussion about the program, residents said, repeating what McGill told the public.

“The fact that he felt so comfortable telling her (McGill) to, ‘get the (bleep) out’ shows the lack of respect that he not only has for women but also women of color and such behavior will not be tolerated by this community,” said Hamadi Martin, a member of the grassroots activist group “We the People.” [Read more…]

State targets aggressive real estate tactics in Chestnut Ridge

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Claudia Gollub of Chestnut Ridge speaks during a public meeting on blockbusting at Rockland Community College on Sept. 21, 2016. (Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News)

The state has proposed creating a cease-and-desist zone in the village of Chestnut Ridge to protect homeowners from overly aggressive real estate sellers and home buyers.

A ruling from New York State’s Department of State comes more than a year after a hearing at which dozens of residents complained of being harassed and threatened to sell their homes. Some cited the rapid expansion of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community as a driving force behind the pressure they felt to sell.

Some speakers described the tactics as “blockbusting,” the practice of pressuring homeowners to sell by threatening that home values will drop as their neighborhoods change. [Read more…]

Ramapo contaminated soil case heads to trial

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Massive piles of dirt from the Rockland Sewer District No. 1’s decade-long expansion project that were placed in Sloatsburg’s Community Field nearly a decade ago have been removed.
(Photo: Michael D’Onofrio/The Journal News)

If the high-profile contaminated soil case goes to a jury trial, jurors will have to decide if Ramapo removed any contaminated soil as it was contracted to do and if it billed the local sewer district for the work regardless, a judge ruled this week. [Read more…]

Together Again

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Photos of Alan Simon and Anthony MalliaThe team has been reunited. When Alan Simon ran the Ramapo building department Anthony Mallia was his first assistant. Then Simon decided he was a law unto himself and insisted he did not have to follow the law as interpreted by Ramapo town attorney Michael Klein. That resulted in a rare split in the small clique that ran Ramapo and Simon was out. [Read more…]