TJN: A hearing to discuss the illegal operation of a day care center and a developer’s complaint of increased building permit fees was adjourned by Ramapo’s Zoning Board of Appeals last night.The five-member board will next hear on Aug. 10 from developer Mosdos Chovetz Chaim, which wants to build a yeshiva with adult student housing and which has been cited by Ramapo and the state for running a preschool out of a trailer on its construction site.The developer is appealing the town’s decision to increase the building permit fees for its 60-apartment yeshiva on Grandview Avenue.The board also adjourned a hearing on the operation of the day care center that the town deemed to be illegal at the site.

Hershy Itzkowitz of Monsey said he was called by Rabbi Aryeh Zaks of the yeshiva earlier in the evening and told to attend the meeting to ask for an adjournment.

Deputy Town Attorney Michael Specht said he had received a call that day from South Nyack-based attorney Dennis Lynch, who represents the developer, but there was no message and that a call to Lynch’s office was not returned.

Itzkowitz said neither Zaks nor Lynch had been made aware of the meeting by the town.

“Did you see today’s newspaper?” board member P.T. Thomas asked.

The board voted unanimously to adjourn the hearing after breaking for a few minutes to discuss the issue.

“This is the notice,” Specht said. “There will be no further notice from the town.”

Zaks has complained to the board that the building-permit fees, based on construction costs, were unfairly raised by more than $20,000. An initial construction estimate of $6 million was raised to $8.4 million, which raised the town’s fee to $75,617 from $54,046.

The town cited the developer in February for operating without a site plan and a certificate of occupancy. The town’s zoning board dismissed the developer’s first appeal in May.

The developer has pleaded not guilty in Ramapo Town Court to charges of running a preschool out of a trailer on the Grandview Avenue construction site. A trial date is set for July 24.

Deputy Town Attorney Meryl Troodler, who is prosecuting the case, has said the developer could face a $5,000 fine on each of the six counts if found guilty.

The state’s Office of Children and Family Services adjourned an administrative hearing against the developer until Aug. 9.

The state agency had ordered the preschool shut down in March when it appeared the yeshiva was operating without a child-care license or registration.

Brian Marchetti, a spokesman for the state agency, has said if a judge ruled in the state’s favor, a $500-a-day fine could be imposed on the developer and the state could seek a court order barring the preschool from operating.

“Please adjourn the case so we can come back and have our day and tell our side of the story,” Itzkowitz said to the board.