Note: After additional research on this topic, it appears that the perceived imbalance of Town of Ramapo Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals membership is root in jurisdictional authority. The boards only have jurisdiction in those parts of Ramapo not in villages (in which case, village planning and zoning takes precedence over the town). The makeup of the boards was set by former Supervisor Herb Reisman.

Keeping with its tradition of splashy articles that detail the inner workings of the Town of Ramapo, the friendly outliers at Preserve Ramapo recently published a scathing overview of the composition of several important town boards.

In a throw back to muckraking journalism, Preserve Ramapo reports on the the composition and decisions of two important town boards — the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. Although each is tasked with different responsibilities, together the boards help formulate, regulate and carry out community land use and building activities, including zoning codes. The how, where, what to build that goes a long way in determining distinctive features of municipalities.

Members of each board are made by appointment. In Sloatsburg, the mayor has sole discretion to make appointments but traditionally confers with the Board of Trustees. For the Town of Ramapo, town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence operates in generally the same manner — making appointments with the approval of the town board by resolution.

Both town boards have seven members and terms vary member to member. Some serve 7 years. Some much less. Monsey has five seats on each board with Spring Valley occupying the other four spots. No other village or hamlet in Ramapo is represented.

Monsey has some 770 properties exempt from the tax rolls, leading all town villages, while Spring Valley comes in second with 474.

Zoning variances are normally very rigidly rendered special permissions granted only if undue hardship by a property owner can be proven. Variances can set local building code precedents and also have complicated repercussions — see the law of unintended consequences.

Preserve Ramapo charges that the tax exemptions in both Monsey and Spring Valley are accelerating dense multi-family unit housing in the town.

“As Monsey and Spring Valley continue to match growth with decreasing tax bases, the burden to cover the necessary infrastructure and services will be picked up by all the others that appear on this list,” reports Preserve Ramapo in a detailed, link rich article that delves into development in both villages.

The heart of the article focuses on a town ZBA case that involved 50 variances for Monsey developer Jacob Wagschal on two lots that were combined into a 1.89 acre parcel. According to the Preserve Ramapo article, Wagschal’s company, JW Development, sought zoning variances that would “explode its two lots from 2 to 42 families in the same space.”

Preserve Ramapo has an exhaustive and colorful compendium of Town of Ramapo political machinations that is often difficult to distinguish the facts from fiction, as Preserve Ramapo pulls no punches in its pursuit of town actions. But with the sudden eruption of corruption in Spring Valley — where Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret were caught up in a bribery scheme that involved pay-to-play, the FBI and undercover informant Moses (Mark, Moe) Stern — anything is possible.

And county, state and federal law enforcement officials have certainly developed a keen interest in the machinations of Rockland County.

As any meticulous review of town board agendas will reveal, Ramapo is apparently the epicenter of a wide web of real estate ventures.

Note: The Village of Sloatsburg also does not list on its official website members of the Village Planning Board or members of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Town of Ramapo Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals images courtesy of Preserve Ramapo.