So it seems that the Democratic primary for town supervisor will come and go without a debate between incumbent Christopher St. Lawrence and his challenger, Bruce Levine, the Spring Valley village attorney. Levine said he has publicly challenged St. Lawrence to a debate, but the supervisor has not responded. St. Lawrence told this writer on [...]

It can be interesting to leaf through petitions filed to get prospective candidates on the ballot. Petitions for a Republican ticket, which includes Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and town Justice Rhoda Schoenberger – both Democrats – on the GOP primary ballot were collected by a variety of local political veterans. They included Michael Dolan, [...]

There’s no argument that Sloatsburg is among the most bucolic of Rockland communities, sitting as does at the doorstep of Harriman State Park. And so a recent interview with Mayor Carl Wright led this reporter to pine for the days when The Journal News ran a daily “quote of the day,” on the tail of [...]

Nathan Oberman, a Ramapo Democratic Committee official and the town’s Receiver of Taxes, is contesting Republican Robert Romanowski’s petition to run against Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence in a GOP primary. In an election law dispute filed in state Supreme Court in New City, Oberman also names the county’s two commissioners of elections. The Board of [...]

My mistake….Of course! It was Southside at the concert last year. I guess my memory was warped by the incredible number of Hermits fans who flooded the site with tributes to Peter Noone. In any case, I hope you enjoy this year’s show.

Peter Noone’s Herman’s Hermits will be performing for the second year in a row at the town’s Celebration of Liberty and Pride,  an early take on July 4th festivities. This site was jammed a year ago when the town chose Herman’s Hermits over Southside Johnny, with fans of each band rallying to support their favorite. [...]

The CSEA’s regional health and safety inspector is due to evaluate Suffern Village Hall for a potential mold infestation on Friday. A representative of the Rockland Department of Health was likely to be present at the time, Mayor John Keegan said this week. One employee has complained of nasal issues that may or may not [...]

Two of the more controversial requests for zoning variances for yeshivas will be reviewed on Thursday by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The first is for a yeshiva with a dormitory on the former Camp Hill Road estate of the late actor Burgess Meredith, which has generated no small amount of neighborhood opposition despite a [...]

The namesake of the Indian Rock shopping center in Montebello will be getting a plaque at 1 p.m. on Sunday so passersby can reflect a bit on what came before them. The 19,000 ton granite boulder was used by native Americans as a trail marker, pointing the way to Mahwah, N.J., which Craig Long, the [...]

The Town Board has decided after public hearings that its planned affordable condominium development off Twin Avenue will not significantly impact the environment. Spring Valley, though, continues to be opposed to the size of the project – 132 units – as too large and Village Attorney Bruce Levine had asked the board to do a [...]

The Tuesday, April 21, Ramapo Planning Board agenda includes public hearings on a proposed school and dormitory, a rabbi’s residence, and subdivisions ranging between two and six lots. Among the larger subdivision proposed is one off the east side of Remsen Avenue in Monsey, where Elazar Steinwurtzel plans to leave two existing houses on two [...]

Tonight’s zoning board meeting at Town Hall includes requests for variances from municipal codes for two schools, as well as the construction of multifamily housing. Beginning at 8 p.m., the board will review a proposal by Congregation Mesifta Shraga to build a school, dormitory and staff buildings at the intersection of Camp Hill Road and [...]

The Ramapo Town Board has changed the starting times for Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals meetings to 8 p.m. from 8:15 p.m. It was anticipated by the Town Attorney’s Office that the new start time would be 7:30 p.m., but the Town Board settled on 8 p.m. instead.

There will be a public hearing at 8 p.m. on March 18 in Town Hall on the town’s plan to build about 130 units of affordable housing off Elm Street at the Spring Valley border. The town has created a development agency for the project, which means that Ramapo will be the builder, although it [...]

Among the items on tomorrow’s Town Board meeting is a resolution to change the starting times for the Planning Board and Zoning Board meetings. The 8:15 p.m. starting time will be changed to 7:30 p.m. That could be a significant change for the public, which sometimes had to wait until 11 p.m. or later for [...]

I apologize to anyone waiting to participate in the Ramapo Live blog. Technical difficulties have been encountered at my end. I’ll be checking with our tech services people today to determine the cause and to rectify the problem.

The town of Ramapo plans to appoint alternate members to its planning and zoning boards, with the idea that the alternates could step in when regular members were absent. This could come in handy, considering that there was only one Planning Board meeting last year when all the members were present and arrived on time. [...]

The Joseph T. St. Lawrence Community, Health and Sports Center in Hillburn made the cover of a 2009 calendar produced by the New York State Recreation and Park Society. The aerial photograph shows the facility’s athletic fields and the building that includes exercise and meeting rooms. The Ramapo River can be seen looping past the [...]

A resident attending a Town Board meeting last month suggested that Planning Board meetings begin a bit earlier than the customary 8:15 p.m. The Zoning Board of Appeals, by the way, starts its meetings at the same time. One regular attendee of such meetings, a lawyer who represents clients before the boards, recalled that the [...]

The village was expecting to begin advertising soon for a Department of Public Works chief, a job that’s been vacant for about a year. I was wondering how residents – the taxpayers – feel about this. Do they think the village should save the money that would be spent on the position, or should it [...]

I was wondering if folks have been applying to adopt the dogs that were rescued from a Wesley Hills home on Dec. 23. They’re being kept at the Hudson Valley Human Society’s facility off Quaker Road in northern Ramapo. About 20 or so at last count.

The Ramapo blog promised for Tuesday (Jan. 13) has been postponed so I can go to the Ramapo Planning Board meeting that night. The meeting, as some might recall, was supposed to be last Tuesday (Jan. 6), but was cancelled because of the ice storm. I apologize for this cancellation. We will resume the blog [...]

On Thursday, Jan. 29, the Zoning Board of Appeals will be looking at a variety of issues that could draw the interest of residents.   They range from a proposed sushi kitchen in a Monsey residential neighborhood that would supply a catering service, to a take-out restaurant off Route 45 in Hillcrest, to an office [...]

The threat of an ice and snow storm has cancelled tonight’s (Jan. 6) Planning Board meeting. The session was re-scheduled for 8 p.m. Jan. 13 in Town Hall. Let’s all hope for clear skies.