Clarkstown seeks court approval of search warrants for houses seen as violating laws
NEW CITY − Clarkstown officials want judicial approval to inspect 16 houses suspected of violating town zoning laws and fire regulations with unsafe and overcrowded living conditions.
State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Zugibe scheduled a show cause hearing for Nov. 13 on the town's request to enter the houses and for the immediate removal of people living there. Clarkstown's show cause request cites the location of the properties and the listed owners.
The town's court papers claim the individual owners and the same management company have refused town inspectors entry to inspect the buildings. As a result, the town is seeking search warrants.
One basis for search warrants is that several inspections found overcrowded conditions at other houses managed by the same company and illegal conversions to accommodate more than a dozen people, according to the complaint.
"Based on what we have seen in some of the houses already, we envision additional dangerous living conditions," Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann said on Monday. "This is not a fishing expedition. We know what's going on and the potential dangers. We cannot allow violations of our laws."
The property owners and management company have not registered with the town's rental registry, despite being warned, a violation of town laws, according to the complaint.
The properties owned under the business designation limited liability company also have not provided ownership information, Hoehmann and Deputy Town Attorney Kevin Conway said. The Clarkstown Town Board adopted the transparency law to prevent owners from hiding behind LLCs or corporations. The town believes there's a correlation between anonymous ownership and code violations, high rents and evictions.
In their request for judicial intervention, Clarkstown officials demanded the court allow immediate access to the 16 properties to confirm or determine whether any occupancies violate town zoning and regulations. They also want the judge to enjoin the owners and management company occupying the houses and remove people living in the single-family houses.
Clarkstown inspections found multiple violations
The legal actions are part of an overall crackdown by Clarkstown on what officials call illegal and dangerous conversion of single-family housing for profit. Hoehmann said the town policy is to seek court-approved search warrants to force compliance, unlike other municipalities.
Clarkstown officials already have taken two property owners to state court to force the closure of boarding houses in single-family houses and the removal of tenants and people living there. Officials claim there's a network of houses zoned for single-family living and overseen by the same management company, First Choice SV Property Management LLC.
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A management spokesperson could not be reached for comment. Attorneys for the property owners were not known or cited on court papers.
The legal action seeking court-ordered inspections of 16 properties cites First Choice as the housing manager. Officials said an investigation found First Choice manages 339 rental homes across Rockland. Of those properties, 37 are listed in Clarkstown, with about 20 appearing to comply with town codes.
The town's complaint before the judge argues the houses are "dangerous to the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the Town of Clarkstown and the immediate occupants of said building."
The Clarkstown complaint, citing as an example, states that on Aug. 18, Clarkstown police responded to a possible fight at 4 Great Oaks Drive and found "more than 20 people living in the houses living inside the home and numerous building violations, including framing out of the walls to the garage and dining room for bedrooms."
On Sept. 15, Code Enforcement Officer Raymond Francis found more than 28 people living at 295 New Hempstead Road rental property also managed by First Choice. Francis' report noted beds throughout the house, including hallways, bedrooms, living room, basement, and garage areas. Clarkstown officials described the supposed single-family house flophouse where inspectors found scores of safety violations and dangerous conditions.
Zugine already has ordered the house closed and people removed. Hoehmann said town officials don't know where those people went but suspect possibly to other houses managed by First Choice.
In another case, inspectors armed with a court warrant searched a single-family house on West Clarkstown Road and found 25 migrants living there, some sleeping on mattresses in an attic that could only be reached through a crawl space.
Hoehmann and County Executive Ed Day, who joined him at town hall for an earlier press conference, both suggested that the two migrant boarding houses found in Clarkstown and the presence of migrants in homes managed by First Choice were signs that recent migrant arrivals in the New York area were leading to illegal and dangerous housing conditions.
They offered no proof of New York City's involvement. The city's mayor has denied being involved, though he tried to send migrants to a hotel in Orangetown and other suburbs. Courts blocked those attempts.
Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com. Twitter: @lohudlegal.
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Clarkstown NY seeks search warrants for zoning, fire laws violations
