NY state judge temporarily closes dormitory school in house at Clarkstown's request
NEW CITY - A dormitory school operating inside a house along rustic South Mountain Road has been ordered temporarily closed by a New York State Supreme Court justice.
Justice Christie D'Alessio granted Clarkstown's request for a temporary restraining order. The town's legal action claims the house has a certificate of occupancy as a single-family house and has caused environmental problems for neighbors.
D'Alessio ordered the property owner, Yoel Yzvi Templer, to remove the teenage students from the house, which is perched on the mountain above the two-lane South Mountain Road. She gave Templer's attorney until April 14 to respond to Clarkstown allegations of building, zoning and other code violations. She said Clarkstown would then have until April 28 to respond.
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Clarkstown argued in court papers that the private school with more than 22 students violates town zoning and state fire and safety codes. The house is located on a four-acre lot in a rustic area of town, less than a mile from the Orchards of Conklin farm.
The town argued the school's operation degraded the area's water well and septic systems and created potentially dangerous conditions for the students and first responders.
"These folks moved in without any approvals," Supervisor George Hoehmann said Tuesday. "This is a particularly egregious violation. This is the last piece of residential property on an oversize lot in a very picturesque portion of the town."
Neighbors informed Clarkstown officials last year about the school opening and how the operation affected their lives, Hoehmann said.
Clarkstown first issued violation notices to the property owner and attempted to handle the matter before a town justice, Hoehmann said. The town went to Supreme Court after Templer didn't cooperate, he said.
Templer's attorney, Lee J. Lefkowitz of Zarin & Steinmetz in White Plains, said Tuesday that Templer has addressed the alleged building code violations. He said he would respond to the town's motion to close the school in court.
"My client has undertaken significant work to update and repair the septic system and most, if not all, of the items the town brought up have been remediated," Lefkowitz said.
The house is used as a school for young men under 18 "who didn't get into other schools and are considered at-risk," Lefkowitz said. "Mr. Templer helps get the kids into other schools."
Unlike other municipalities, Hoehmann said Clarkstown goes to state court seeking search warrants to enforce town zoning and building codes and state fire and building regulations, if there are health and safety issues.
Ramapo, for example, allows a property owner or developer operating in violation of codes and zoning to file plans with land-use boards and cure the violations. A case in point are houses at 36 and 42 Sky Meadow Road that started operating as schools with town approvals. The house at 36 Sky Meadow is before the Ramapo Planning Board, and neighbors said the school remains open.
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Hoehmann said single-family houses are not constructed to be used as schools. In January, Clarkstown inspectors went to the house at 61 S. Mountain Road, a two-story Colonial with a detached garage. The house is located up a long dirt driveway off the road, where a no-trespassing sign is attached to a pole.
As another example of Clarkstown's tough stance on enforcement, Hoehmann said, the town is reaching a zoning case settlement with a $50,000 fine with the owners of the former Singer's catering hall at 100 S. Central Ave. in Nanuet on the Spring Valley border. The Ramapo-based congregation runs a school with up to 50 dormitory rooms and has been cited previously for violations in Clarkstown and Ramapo.
In a seven-page complaint filed against Templer by Town Attorney Craig Johns, the violations included:
operating a school and dormitory in a single-family house
lacking the safety features for a school, such as sprinklers, fire alarms hooked into Rockland 44 control center, smoke detectors in sleeping areas, portable fire extinguishers, and an evacuation plan.
Based on the alterations made the house is no longer habitable.
The complaint contends, "If the defendant is allowed to continue to maintain the premises in its present condition, a clear and present danger to human life will be permitted to continue unchecked and will cause irreparable and immediate loss and damage to the Town of Clarkstown and result in continues violation of its ordinance and codes."
"There's a place for schools and there's a place for dormitories," Hoehman said. "But having as many as two dozen people living in a single-family home is not acceptable in Clarkstown and should not be acceptable anywhere."
Deputy Town Attorney Paul Schofield is handling the case.
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: Judge temporarily shuts school operating in Clarkstown house
