Rockland: 30-Day Moratorium On Spring Valley Building Permits

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Rockland County launched its temporary Office of Buildings and Codes on Monday with a 30-day moratorium on building permit applications in Spring Valley as some in the Jewish community urged non-compliance.

The launch came 90 days after the New York State Department ordered the county to temporarily assume responsibility for code inspections and enforcement in the troubled building department in Spring Valley.

"We essentially have been deputized," said Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

The state order, the first of its kind in New York, came a day after the head of Spring Valley's building department and one of its inspectors were indicted in the investigation into the 2021 fatal fire at the Evergreen Court Home for Adults. The converted 1903 hotel in Spring Valley was destroyed in a massive blaze last March that killed firefighter Jared Lloyd and 79-year-old resident Oliver Hueston and injured about a dozen people. More than 100 people had to be saved. Lloyd, 35, was rescuing residents. He sent out a Mayday call from an upper floor before it collapsed, but he could not be reached.

Six people have been charged, including Rabbi Aaron Sommer and his father, Rabbi Nathaniel Sommer, who had conducted a pre-Passover kitchen cleaning hours before the conflagration which included using special blowtorches for which they did not have a permit to remove all traces of leavening from the facility's industrial ovens.

Wayne Ballard and Raymond Canario are accused of filing false reports to the state about inspections at Evergreen Court.

"The true bad apples of the Village Building Department which are under indictment, have not and will not be part of this process," Day said in January.

According to The Journal News, Canario now runs the Public Works Department. Ballard, who had run both the DPW and the building department, was "supplanted" by a consultant hired to reform the department, TJN reported.

Other members of the village's building department will be involved, said Ed Markunas, the new director of the new office. Markunas, a former NYPD police officer like Day, instituted a code enforcement initiative when he was mayor of Suffern.

The village has long been known for its lack of oversight and enforcement of building and safety codes. A state monitor was actually in place at the time of the fire and the village had been required to file reports with the state on code inspections and compliance actions. SEE: Village Hall Raided In Investigation Of Fatal Fire. Firefighters and others told the Journal News in April that the assisted living home was commonly considered a death trap.

Day acknowledged opposition to the work cleaning up Spring Valley's code enforcement operation.

Yidinfo.net, a Brooklyn-based online media service that bills itself as "the most prime, accurate, and punctual up-to-the-minute news within the Jewish world, providing a combination of local and world news to keep you updated when it happens, as it happens" posted an article about the takeover that said:

"It is important to know that homeowners are not required to open the door to any stranger or inspector. It is also suggested that there be no more than one family name on the door of any given single-family home."

Day called that troubling. It triggered memories of carrying the bodies of two children from a burning building when he was a New York City police officer.

If an inspector comes to your house they are simply trying to ensure that you are safe, he said.

"Obviously this message to some degree is coming from the same people who have been putting people in death traps for a long time for one reason only — to make money," he said.

If a tenant or property owner denies the inspectors access, Day said, warrants would be sought.

He said the Office would also address the issue of single-family houses converted to multi-family dwellings without permits.

While the new department, with a $1.5 million budget approved by the county Legislature, initially called for 12 full and part-time building and fire inspectors, officials Monday said they were going to start with 20 certified code inspectors.

There are more than 800 overdue inspections. While county officials wouldn't get specific, they did point out that under state law places of public assembly are required to be inspected every yearand certain kinds of local dwellings are inspectable every three years.

"As this process plays out, we are prepared to increase staffing and inspectors if the workload demands it," Markunas said.

The Office of Buildings and Codes main office will be on the 2nd Floor of Building A in the Robert Yeager Health Complex in Pomona. It will also have a small satellite office at Spring Valley Village Hall for village residents who can't easily get to Pomona. The satellite office will be staffed by a clerk and certified code inspector to provide forms and answer questions but will not issue permits.

Complaints can be submitted by calling 1-845-364-3700 or emailing buildingsandcodes@co.rockland.ny.us.

Putting the office together took a lot of work from many people, Day said, as it necessitated coordinating between emergency services, facilities, technology, law, personnel, purchasing, finance and consumer protection.

The county created an Intermunicipal Agreement with Spring Valley that was approved by the Legislature, which lays the groundwork for a smooth transition and prepares for the day that New York State decides to return code enforcement to Spring Valley. The state has not provided a timeline or criteria for the return.

SEE: Lawmakers Finalize Rockland Takeover Of Village Code Enforcement

The agreement outlines the expectations and requirements of the working relationship between the county and village including accessing their recordkeeping program and providing documents — which village officials at first refused to do — and allowing their existing building and fire inspectors to report to and work for the county.

The inclusion of fully vetted, existing village inspectors is necessary because they know local conditions best, Day said. With proper oversight, training, and direction they could help speed up the process significantly.

“Any Village employee who does not comport entirely with the rules and regulations of New York State will be removed from participating in our effort,” Day said.

The zero-tolerance policy will also apply to structures. When it comes to enforcement of the Uniform Building and Fire Codes of New York State, the office will not hesitate to issue fines to those in violation. Disputes will mostly be handled in administrative court, instead of in the Spring Valley court, which has been accused of being a factor in the village's lax oversight.

“Fines are not the goal, they are just a tool that we will utilize whenever necessary,” said Markunas.

"All we are seeking is compliance with New York state law. If fines need to be issued they’ll be substantial," Day said. Tenants will not be responsible for property owners' issues.

This isn't Rockland's first foray into improving code enforcement in the county.

In 2015 the county developed and launched the Rockland Codes Initiative to combat illegal housing and fire safety issues under the Rockland County Sanitary Code. The program has proved incredibly successful since then serving as a statewide model, generating more than 7,400 complaints, and issuing more than $2 million in fines for violations.

"I promise the people of Rockland that my top goal in fulfilling this order from New York State is to protect the health and safety of village residents, visitors and first responders," Day said.