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“The newly elected mayor and trustees in Airmont had a tough first day in office following their close March 19 victory over the write-in campaign led by former mayor Phil Gigante.
The newly elected Mayor Nathan Bubel took the oath of office at noon and then presided over his first Board of Trustees meeting hours later. However, few could have foreseen what was coming. [Read more…]
“An acting state judge rejected an Orthodox Jewish congregation’s legal action claiming Airmont violated its own zoning laws involving a synagogue hit with violations during a village wide building moratorium.
Mayor Philip Gigante applauded the village’s vindication in state Supreme Court, as he also has denied allegations made in two separate federal lawsuits claiming the village discriminates against Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.
The congregation’s legal action – called an Article 78 – has nothing to do with the two civil rights lawsuits. [Read more…]
June 12, 2018 “Village officials are nearly ready to pull the trigger on approving an updated zoning code and lifting a thrice-extended building moratorium that some Hasidic Jewish residents find restrictive to their plans to expand their homes.
The final step in the process that began in October 2016 starts Tuesday night with a public hearing on the proposed zoning code changes before a subcommittee of the Comprehensive Master Plan Review Committee. [Read more…]
“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…]
 NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING – March 13, 2018 @ 7:30pm
Draft of Comprehensive Plan Update 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. |
“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…]
Airmont Board meets at the RCC Fieldhouse (Photo: Michael D’Onofrio/The Journal News)
“All building has been temporarily banned in the village, but the moratorium may have come too late to impact some developers.
The Village Board voted 3-2 to suspend all residential and non-residential subdivisions and developments for six months. The ban will allow officials time to update its comprehensive plan and make revisions to its planning and zoning regulations in order to curb overdevelopment and preserve the status-quo of the village’s character.
But there are a number of exemptions to the moratorium, which include applications that have been approved by the village and those currently seeking approval.
Mayor Philip Gigante said the the village’s Planning and Zoning boards supported the moratorium, and there were too many contradictions in the current codes. [Read more…]
“Village residents will now have more power to determine who can and cannot knock on their doors.
Trustees on Tuesday passed a law creating a “do not knock” registry in Airmont, which reflects a growing trend across Rockland in preventing door-to-door solicitors from rapping on people’s doors.
Airmont follows Clarkstown and Orangetown in passing no-knock laws that proponents say will give residents a tool against aggressive real estate canvassing and solicitors. Some homeowners have used terms like “blockbusting” to describe high-pressure tactics of real estate agents on behalf of the ultra-Orthodox community.”
Read the complete LoHud coverage here.
“FBI agents and Rockland district attorney’s office investigators fanned out across Ramapo on Wednesday with search warrants demanding that vendors and yeshivas provide records and account for equipment allegedly bought by religious schools with millions in federal education technology dollars. Agents descended around 1:30 p.m. on vendors at 21 and 29 Robert Pitt Drive, Monsey; 161 Route 59, Monsey; and 386 Route 59, Airmont to seize records. The raids began to spread in the late afternoon to yeshivas in the Monsey area. A group of FBI agents were seen outside a yeshiva at 93, 95 and 97 Highview Avenue, all converted single-family homes. They would not comment. [Read more…]
“Yoav Liberman says the solicitations can be relentless.Real estate agents come up to him at his home of two years in Chestnut Ridge. Their question is always the same: Is he interested in selling his house? Liberman, 49, who was raised in Israel, says that, even after he makes it clear he’s not interested, they linger, telling him they have cash buyers ready to snap up the property.“They are just very aggressive. That’s what it comes down to. [Read more…]