MONSEY — Ramapo halted construction this week outside of a home for adults, where a building permit was revoked more than a year ago.
The New Monsey Park Home for Adults was issued a building permit on April 12, 2005, to construct a synagogue in an area that had held an indoor swimming pool, but that was revoked on Aug. 30, 2005, according to town records.
Deputy Building Inspector Steve Conlee said the "stop work" order did not pertain to the synagogue, but rather to landscaping and paving that was being done around it.
Fencing was permitted to remain for safety reasons, he said, "and that was all they were supposed to do without a revised site plan and the owner's approval."
The owner of the property at 15 Monsey Blvd., Abraham Rubenfeld, wrote to the town on Aug. 29, 2005, to complain about the construction.
"My permission, as owner, has not been given to Israel Orzel, who is merely leasing our property at (the) Monsey Park Hotel," Rubenfeld wrote. "He has no right to obtain a building permit. Please revoke the building permit immediately."
While the permit was revoked the following day, according to town records, those records do not contain a documented reason for the revocation.
First Deputy Town Attorney Alan Berman said it was unknown why it was revoked, other than the possibility that the action was taken as a result of Rubenfeld's letter.
"It was brought to our attention that the owner hadn't given his approval," Conlee recalled.
There was also no documentation in the town's file that Rubenfeld had ever given his permission for the construction work, although the town customarily requires an owner's approval before issuing a building permit.
A reporter's message left for Orzel yesterday at the facility was not returned.
Berman and Conlee thought the synagogue was not completed, and there was also no record, such as a certificate of occupancy, in the town's file.
A sign seen attached yesterday to the fence in front of the building appeared to direct passersby to a synagogue inside.
In letters to Brian Brophy, the former building inspector, Orzel wrote in February 2005, that he saw no reason why a permit should not be issued.
The pool area had been unused except for storage, Orzel wrote, and its new use as synagogue and meeting area "will improve our facility in a very positive fashion."
He wrote that "we also hope to attract community involvement in the way of programs, lectures and religious activities."
Brophy retired after a small amount of marijuana and an envelope containing $6,000 was found in his town-owned sports utility vehicle following an auto accident last year.
He denied that the money was his and it was confiscated by state police investigators. A marijuana violation against him is to be dismissed.
Town Attorney Michael Klein said the adult home operator was prosecuted this year on charges of construction without a permit, inadequate fire sprinkler system maintenance, and the improper change of use of part of the facility to a synagogue. Justice Sam Colman dismissed the change-of-use charge; the sprinkler violation was corrected; and a $2,000 fine was paid for building without a permit, Klein said.
