- CHAIRMAN
TH AS 8 LY Administrative Regulations
Review Commission
STATE OF NEW YORK
COMMITTEES
 Codes

Environmental Conservation
Ethics and Guidance

KENNETH ZEBROWSKI Governmental Employees
96th District . Judiciary
Flockland County Labor

Libraries Education Technology

 

July 2, 2015

Secretary of State Cesar Perales
Department of State

99 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12231

Dear Secretary Perales:

I am writing to urge you in the strongest terms possible to take immediate action with respect to
code enforcement in the Town of Ramapo and the Village of Spring Valley.

This letter follows repeated phone calls, meetings and letters to your of?ce including an initial
letter on November 2013, nearly nineteen months ago, in which I requested your Department to
intervene in response to what I characterized as a ?systemic failure of code enforcement? in
Rockland county. I have been patient throughout this process as your Department
performed site visits, conducted informal investigations and held interviews with local of?cials.
There have been unnecessary delays and inaction as your Department has learned more of the
pervasive lack of code enforcement that occurs in these two municipalities.

This situation has languished for too long and continued inaction will put lives at risk. We have a
unique opportunity to be proactive before a tragedy occurs and someone gets hurt. To provide
you with more context as to the need of a formal investigation, I recently took a tour of some of
the notorious and apparent building violations that exist in these communities. My observations
were alarming especially with how the failure of code enforcement has resulted in a proliferation
of unsafe buildings. During our tour, we observed many illegal construction projects where
single family homes have been converted into schools, dormitories, overcrowded housing or
places of worship. These construction projects were often conducted without building permits
resulting in numerous code violations. II was even further taken aback by the proliferation of
trailers located on small pieces of land, often placed within a few feet of other structures,
creating a ?re hazard. One of the more egregious examples of the failure of code enforcement
was at one property where the owners, presumably with the permission of town of?cials,
installed large tents in the backyard that are being used as permanent classrooms with electric
wires and HVAC ducts improperly connected. In several other examples, wires were
haphazardly strewn from one building to an adjacent building and extension cords were seen
outside, in the elements, connected between one structure through trees to other unseen sources.
During the tour, I reviewed over two dozen properties with ?re of?cials and was shocked to see
that these buildings are occupied by residents. I invite you to join me in a tour of these

ALBANY OFFICE: Room 637, Legislative Office Building, Albany, New York 12248 - 518-455-5735, FAX: 518-455-5561
DISTRICT OFFICE: 67 North Main Street, 2"d Floor, New City, New York 10956 - 845-634-9791, FAX: 8145-6344091
zebrowskik@assembly.state.ny. us

 

communities to demonstrate why we need to take swift action and restore basic public safety to
residents and first responders.

Although there has been some progress with your ?ndings, the severity of this matter requires
immediate action to ensure that remedial measures can be taken and proper enforcement of
building and ?re codes can be reinstated. I understand that the Department is developing a draft
report of your ?ndings in the Village of Spring Valley and that you are moving towards a more
formal investigation in the Town of Ramapo. I am respectfully requesting that your Department
expedite these next steps and provide preliminary ?ndings on the status of code enforcement in
both Ramapo and Spring Valley. In addition, I ask that you initiate a review of the Village of
New Hempstead and the Village of Kaser as their issues with code enforcement continue to have
an impact on the community.

It seems that in all these municipalities there is a lack of effective deterrents against illegal
building practices which have allowed the situation to become untenable. Many building owners
knowingly commence construction without proper building permits or variances. If prOper
permits are ever sought it is following or during construction. Since the building construction
and/or plans are not up to code, the building is unsafe and cannot receive a certi?cate of
occupancy (CO). The next step should be to order the structure returned to its original state or at
the very least prohibit any occupancy of the building until the owner has taken the necessary
steps to bring such building into compliance. Unfortunately, this is the point where local code
enforcement of?cials falter. Instead of denying access to the unsafe properties, they issue
temporary certi?cate of occupancies. These temporary COs are re-issued in some instances for
years, with no discernible compliance work performed on the property. During this long period
of time, the buildings are grossly non-Compliant with building and ?re codes which put
thousands of residents and first responders at risk each andevery day. Worse, this sets a
precedent encouraging others to engage in this non-compliant behavior.

I recommend that the Department consider several remedial measures to restore the integrity of
code enforcement in these municipalities including placing restrictions on the use of temporary
certi?cate of occupancies to curb abuses, engaging other government entities to assist in code
enforcement activities such as the County or State, providing continuing education for local code
enforcement of?cers and limits on the use of temporary structures for permanent uses such as
trailers and tents. In addition, I am requesting that you provide a timeline as to when the
investigations and corrective actions will take place. I look forward to your response and further
discussions on how we can move forward to make meaningful changes to code enforcement in
these communities. We need to ensure that safety is the number one priority and goal of the local
code enforcement agencies.

Sincerel 

 

Member of Assembly