Steve Lieberman

slieberm@lohud.com

The state is appointing monitors with investigative authority to oversee the building departments in Ramapo and Spring Valley after years of fielding complaints from officials and first responders about the potentially dangerous lack of fire safety and zoning enforcement in those communities.

The state acted after several years of pressure from Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, D-New City, Rockland County Executive Ed Day and the Rockland Illegal Housing Task Force leaders. They have called for the state to potentially take over the inspection duties in Ramapo and Spring Valley.

The monitors will be assigned because the communities have not done enough to comply with state regulations, state Department of State spokesman Laz Benitiz said Monday.

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Secretary of State Rossana Rosado "found significant deficiencies in code enforcement in the town of Ramapo and village of Spring Valley, Benitez said. "The public's health and safety remains at risk."

He said the monitors "will work to ensure the town and village properly enforce the state building and fire codes, and will remain until such time as the secretary is satisfied the town and village (are) properly administering and enforcing the building and fire code."

Zebrowski said Monday that installing state monitors is a serious step, which goes beyond the state's earlier actions of issuing critical reports and orders to both municipalities to improve enforcement.

He said the death of 36 people during an Oakland, California, warehouse party offered "a sobering reminder of what's at risk when building, fire and zoning codes are not enforced."

Zebrowski said the state has documentation covering three years that shows "a pervasive lack of code enforcement." He said the public has lost confidence in both municipalities' ability to provide zoning and building code enforcement.

"Unfortunately, however, the situation has not yet improved," Zebrowski said. "Inappropriate temporary certificates of occupancy, illegal trailers/schools and excessive variances are still rampant."

This is not the first time the state has stepped in with monitors in Rockland County. The state Department of Education appointed monitors to work with and review the spending and policies of the East Ramapo school district in 2015.

Spring Valley Mayor Demeza Delhomme said he welcomes the state intervention.

Delhomme said the village Board of Trustees' three-person majority has rejected his suggestions to hire more building and fire inspectors to root out illegal schools and houses that have been converted without approvals into multifamily homes or boarding houses.

"They (the trustees) know we need building and fire inspectors," Delhomme said. "They want to run the village but they are not here and are not doing their jobs. It's an embarrassment the state has to step in. It's an embarrassment for the people who elected the board members."

Trustee Asher Grossman said he would be "more than glad to comment once the village (and myself) receive formal notice of any move by the Department of State. It is my understanding that, thus far, there has been no formal notice."

Ramapo Councilwoman Brendel Logan-Charles and Councilman Yitzchock Ullman also said they had heard about the monitors, but had not seen an agreement said to have been approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

They said they want to see what the monitors' goals are, saying that Chief Building Inspector Anthony Mallia and other town officials have been working with the state on the issues cited in the state's critical reports.

​"If the governor appoints a monitor, we do as the governor says and I would welcome state assistance," Logan said. "For a long time, we've needed additional help in that department."

The town also hired a private company to advise the building department.

Mallia remains suspended after he was charged with 100 felonies for allegedly giving some developers a cut rate on building permits, costing the town more than $100,000. The Rockland District Attorney's Office is continuing its investigation into his department.

Logan said Mallia's legal issues are different from the concerns of the state.

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Ramapo Town Attorney Michael Klein said the state has been monitoring the Building Department since April, ordering the town to update its procedures and codes. He said the department has adopted a new schedule for annual inspections and provided monthly reports showing compliance.

"While the state has not advised the town of any compliance issues since April, the town will work cooperatively with an oversight officer as another step in the compliance process to make sure the (state) Fire Prevention And Building Code is vigorously properly enforced," Klein said.

John Kryger, chair of the Rockland Illegal Housing Task Force, said he wants to see results. The task force remains concerned about the threat to firefighters who enter buildings not knowing if there are illegal partitions and apartments in basements and attics. Kryger said the approvals by variances by Zoning Board of Appeals and development plans by Planning Board also add to the problems.

"With the state, I go by past performances and its track record in Rockland is horrible and, in my opinion, borders on criminal," Kryger said. "I can only judge the state by results and nothing, absoluely nothing, has changed in Ramapo and Spring Valley since the state came down more than a year ago. I do not call that progress."

Day called the state action progress. The county executive and others have been critical of Ramapo for being lax in enforcement and catering too much to the housing and religious needs of the ultra-Orthodox communities.

"Over-development in Ramapo and Spring Valley has reached a critical level, to the point where infrastructure and natural resources are being threatened for all of Rockland," Day said. "There have long been questions about how this has been allowed to continue seemingly unabated.

"We're relieved that the state is taking action and we hope this will be a step toward stemming irresponsible development that threatens the quality of life for everyone in Rockland," he said.

State Sen.David Carlucci, Zebrowski and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee also sponsored legislation that would establish a crime of reckless endangerment for anyone who illegally alters a building and creates a condition that causes injury or death to a first responder.

“There have been too many incidents where individuals have been hurt and taxpayer funds have been misappropriated because of lack of oversight,” Carlucci said. “Involving the state to administer these processes, along with a tougher penalty for owners of buildings with fire- and building-code violations, will send a strong signal to anyone looking to skirt the law that there are real, human consequences to doing so.”



Jaffee said she was “relieved the State Department will finally provide oversight of what has evolved into a serious and dangerous situation.”

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