Journal:

Monsey, NY — Concerns about the potential presence of asbestos have led the town to halt work at a site for a yeshiva with 60 apartments for adult students. The dozen 900-square-feet homes on the site off Grandview Avenue…….Town Attorney Michael Klein said yesterday that the town acted after it was contacted by county Department of Health. He said the property owner had to file an asbestos survey with the town and the state Department of Labor. The survey is to be done by a licensed abatement contractor and must show there’s no asbestos present, according to the stop-work order issued Feb. 1. Dennis Lynch, a Nyack attorney representing Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, said the issue of asbestos, a carcinogen when airborne, had been addressed a decade ago when the group bought the 4.7 acres. At that time, the site, which is on the south side of Grandview Avenue about a quarter-mile west of New Hempstead Road, was within the village of New Hempstead. The settlement of a federal discrimination lawsuit against the village, brought over the yeshiva plan, resulted in the site being annexed to the unincorporated town. “We will be in contact with the town to provide additional copies of whatever they need,” Lynch said. “All health conditions have been abated, but the construction will not be.” A permit for the $20,000 demolition of the buildings was issued by Ramapo on Jan. 30. The project’s building permit, issued on Dec. 15, has since been updated with a higher construction cost. Originally estimated by the developers at $6 million, for which a $54,046 permit fee was paid, the cost was increased by the Building Department to $8,399,755 based on the number of square feet. The increase boosted the permit fee to $75,617, according to Building Department records. The project is to include 28 four-bedroom townhouses, and 32 two-bedroom units. It is the first project under Ramapo’s zoning for adult student housing connected to religious schools.