Ramapo, NY – Nearly 150 people jammed the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to object to a proposed yeshiva and dormitory on the former estate of the late actor Burgess Meredith.
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The board heard from 10 speakers, all opposed to Mesifta Beth Shraga’s project on Camp Hill Road, which they saw as clashing with their single-family neighborhood and destroying grounds with links to the American Revolution.
Board Chairman Morton Summer appeared inclined to close the hearing – “I don’t know if the public interest is served by having 100 people say the same thing” – but two board members and Alan Simon, Ramapo’s planning and zoning administrator, urged that it be kept open.
It is to continue at 8 p.m. June 18.
No one representing Mesifta was present. Its lawyer, Ira Emanuel of New City, sought a postponement of last night’s session, but Simon rejected the request and the board decided to go ahead.
Objections heard last night were similar to ones expressed at other public hearings regarding similar projects on Remsen Avenue in Monsey and on Route 306 near the Pomona border.
People in all of the neighborhoods complained that the proposals were too large and did not complement their single-family homes.
Mesifta’s representatives have said that the main and oldest portion of a house on the property, dating back to the American Revolution, would be preserved.
That has not appeased some residents, though, who thought the overall construction would dwarf the house.
Mesifta wants variances from zoning codes to accommodate the construction, while residents opposed any variances.
“This no more belongs in Pomona than a Wal-Mart belongs in Monsey,” Garrett Higgins told the Ramapo zoning board, referring to Monsey residents’ opposition to plans since abandoned by the retailer.
Pomona Deputy Mayor Brett Yagel and others advised the board to heed a county Department of Planning report critical of the Mesifta plan.
The county warned Ramapo that the plans for a 34,430-square-foot yeshiva, a 14,515-square-foot dormitory and four 2,764-square-foot houses risked straining roads and sewers.
Ramapo “must consider the cumulative and regional impacts of permitting such development,” the county said in a March 30 review.
Resident Martin Silverberg said the plan was unfair to neighbors of the 7-acre site, who expected other homes to be built in their neighborhood, “not a college, not a gas station, not a rubber plant.”
Mark Ettlinger, who owns 22 acres near the project site, said he traveled from his home in Toronto for last night’s meeting.
“There is no space for a large boarding school there,” said Ettlinger, who grew up in the neighborhood. “It will change the atmosphere of the single-family-home area, and adversely so. None of the residents want this.”
Some residents said the board was not listening to their pleas.
“We’re taxpaying citizens who feel we are not being fairly represented,” John McDowell said.
Summer’s decision to end the session was met by jeers, leading a visibly angry Summer to say loudly: “Nobody says we have to sit here and listen to the same stuff over and over.”
Higgins, referring to the county’s report, told the board that it had a “responsibility to the residents to look at the true facts.”
I don’t blame them.
all in all there are no tangible reasons to deny the project you cant stop something because you dont like it
the effect on the sewers is minimal / the traffic is very limited
the neighbors have a right to oppose but the board has the obligation to do the right thing
for bais shraga not to have any representation there is utterly stupid!
Self hating jews.
This happens every day throughout the country. Same old story. Funny thing is that they probably don’t realize that Bais Shraga will make a much better neighbor than some other religious organizations that could be trying to enter the area.
The funnier thing is that I can guarantee that most of these people had never heard of Burgess Meredith before this whole story, and most of them still probably know nothing about him nor do they care to.
I suspect the ghosts of last week’s bobover shechita fiasco will end up having a major (although unknown) affect on the Board’s decision…if it is rejected, we know who to thank
they are so right… yeshivas in residential areas are not a good idea… do you want a cow shechted in your backyard? or smoking littering and hitchhiking all over your nieghborhood?
Anyone remember Burgess Meredith as the “Penguin” in the old Batman series form the ’60’s? He was great!
I’m not from NY…does anyone know anything about Beth Shraga; are they a real yeshiva or some startup with no track record.
If this was some exclusive, snooty, Episcopalian prep school horse rising academy they would all rush to kiss the feet of the developers. On the other hand, if this was a “halfway house” for young Black and Latino juvenile delinquents they would keep their mouths shut for fear of being called “racist”
#6 :Resident Martin Silverberg,Mark Ettlinger, who owns 22 acres near the project site, may be self hating Jews but Mark definitely is just concerned about his investement of 22 acres in the area…..
it is very reputable litvesher yeshive.. its been around for a very long time..
Facts are facts. The yeshiva is looking for an EXCEPTION to the rules that they KNEW were in place and AGREED TO when they bought it. Nobody is REQUIRED to give them an exception to the rules. The fact is that this yeshiva WILL bring down the property values of those closest to it. Those people have their own financial standing to be concerned about, and they have a right to protection from things that will devalue their home. I would be extremely upset if someone tried to open a yeshiva on my residential street (we don’t give variances for anything around here).
This is not Brooklyn. People who move to the suburbs move there because of the separation between commercial, educational, and residential properties. Ramapo is not Brooklyn. It is beautiful countryside that people pay a lot of money to live in and enjoy peaceful quiet. Nobody there wants Brooklyn moving in on them. In Brooklyn everything is a big gray (or brick) box building, on an ugly gray sidewalk, on ugly gray streets. Nobody cares what gets put next to what. If that is the lifestyle you are interested in, STAY IN BROOKLYN.
I just wonder why they could not use some sense from the beginning and purchase a property in a non-residential area? Just a quick look online shows plenty of land and buildings for sale in commercially zoned (or multi-purpose) areas from Monsey to Ramapo.
beth shrage is old it was there when i was kid 39 years ago lots of freinds of mine learned there
Hey maybe if i say i would like to open a college campus the town would agree they would much rather have some young teens come in and drink and do drugs then have a group of well behaved boys come into the nieghborhood. go figure
when you face g-d just tell him
” I DID NOT WANT YOUR CHILDREN & TORAH NEAR ME” something is dreadfully wrong !! our sense of priorities is a skew
us out here were thrilled at the idea of having a yeshivah gedolah near us – my family sensed the blessing it would bring to the community ,my wife ruthi, listens to rabbi millers tapes & taught our family to bestow honor & respect for a jew that learns torah
I’M MISSING SOMETHING – WHAT DO THE REVERED RABBIS IN NY FEEL ABOUT THE ISSUE
I am frum. I am against the continual building of yeshivas and “talmudic colleges” with “adult student housing” in areas that are meant to be quiet, peaceful, tree-lined residential areas. It is morally and ethically wrong to do this to the neighbors who don’t want this in their neighborhoods. It is simply wrong, selfish, and obnoxious that our schools and developers keep seeking zoning variances for these purposes, and it is creating a lot of ill will towards Jews and Torah.
i agree with the town, that yeshiva should move into a nice town if thwey cannot respect the culture or the ways of the town. not to mention the chilul hashem it causes.
I have two suggestions. First, everyone needs to remember that these fights are not unique to Yeshivas or Jewish schools, so people shouldn’t scream anti-semitism at the drop of a hat. Secular and catholic schools and colleges fight with their neighbors all the time about building and expansion permits, noise, traffic, parking, etc. so this is not an issue of antisemitism. (Of course, industrial and commercial businesses also have these problems.) One of the ways those institutions win permits (when they are successful) is to show good plans to mitigate/prevent any noise , parking or traffic problems, make sure the construction is aethestically pleasing and if in suburban or rural areas set back from the street with plenty of trees and hedges, and most important, how the development will help the area by providing good jobs, sports and cultural activities (i.e. we will open our swimming pool or playground to neigbors on weekends) that will be shared with residents, and generous payments in lieu of taxes.
Second, people experienced with siting and developing yeshivas and some zoning and development lawyers should get together and have some conferences and publish some guides about how to select a site for a yeshiva and best go through the planning and development process, including working with the town and the neighbors. It seems that with so many small yeshiva and everyone going off in their own direction, no one is learning from the experience of others due to the if its not my sect, why should I listen to anyone else attitude. The planning and thinking about where to locate a school needs to start before someone buys a property. There seems to be too much of buying the property and then worrying about the zoning and thinking about the neighborhood later. I don’t know if that’s what happened here, but there is a lot of putting the cart before the horse.
Take a look in shulchan aruch sometime and you will see that increased traffic is not an acceptable claim in bais din to block the introduction of a yeshiva into a residential neighborhood. I am not saying this halacha is binding on the residents but at least a frum yid should know what the torah has to say about it before forming an opinion.
I grew up in monsey and watched it go from a beautiful peaceful subarb to a bustling dirty rowdy chassidishe ghetto!! Monsey is unrecognizable today and mostly resembles bork park (the place people moved to monsey to escape). All these yeshivas and multi family homes are not only uglifying our city but also blowing our taxes thru the roof! It’s becoming impossible to afford our homes since the yeshivas and residents of multi family homes don’t pay taxes , there4 leaving the deficit on the unsuspecting neighbors who’s neighborhood has just been ruined. So stop calling the pomona residents self hating Jews, they simply don’t want to be run out of their own homes because they can’t afford the taxes or stand the increased traffic and garbage!
So we leave and taht’s it. The best thing to do when people do not want us is to not allow them tohave us. Thisa is only the beginning. Then, if the yeshiva gets in, then they will start noticing little violations and bring up more objections and so on. Fine, good bye. Let them try to find another buyer for the 150 acre estate and let them live with the new owner and keep their smug, haughty and self-righteous attitude to themselves and remain unknown exactly the way they wish.
when u take pip exit 11 theres a church that did a huge expansion…ithink its a school too now, was there any opposition to that project? theres an empty lot along new hempstead road that had a garden nursery and was supposed to have a yeshiva there, was it halted also because of oppostion of the neighbors?
lots of religious politics i see….
Residents against the proposed construction have every right to be upset. Driving through route 306 Monsey, highlights the anxiety of those opposed to this construction. Store fronts are derelict and boarded up, weeds are overrun, grass is scarce and sickly where evident, garbage and refuse is piled on properties and not on curbs for removal, children’s toys are strewn on sidewalks, on route 306 toddlers are left to play in and out of the streets with limited supervision. Most of Monsey is now comparable to a demilitarized zone in appearance. The area has a distinct dichotomy of appearing as a ghost town, while at the same time appearing overcrowded with residents. As stated, residents against the proposed construction have every right to be upset.
The rhetoric of name calling and cries of foul from this reclusive community is not going to help their cause. They need to clean up their act and show these surrounding communities that the proposed constructions will not lead to this visually upsetting landscape, characteristic of Monsey. Clean up Monsey, make it visually pleasing and prove to surrounding communities, that this construction and others, won’t damage the beauty of their area.
As for the individuals going on and on about how Yeshivas will attract wonderful upstanding residents into the community; this logic is flawed as given the saturation of Yeshivas in Monsey, it’s still a depressing, destroyed area. What people see driving past it, is not a beacon of beauty, wisdom and faith; it’s depression, disdain and grime.