With Neighborly Support, Ramapo Planning Board Approves Yeshiva
By: Daniel Friedman
Babcock Lane is a dead end street lined with homes separated from one another by vast lawns and backyards. One of the narrowest streets in Ramapo separates the two sides of the road; each dotted with single-family homes, some with American flags waving lightly in the winter wind. An eerily quiet street, Babcock Lane is made even more so by the fact that it is less than a mile away from the busy Wesley Kosher shopping center on Route 306.
It was the quiet solitude of the neighborhood that first attracted the founders of K’Hal Toras Chaim, a yeshiva that many sought to build on a 13-acre tract of land at the very end of this narrow road off of Route 306 in Monsey. After two years of discussions and negotiations, on Tuesday night, the Ramapo Planning Board voted to approve the yeshiva by an overwhelming majority.
Tuesday night’s meeting was preceded by a great deal of chatter, hype, and lively discussion by several hundred people who had previously come in large numbers to public meetings to oppose similar projects. It was surprising, then, to see that there were only about a dozen people who had come to oppose the project, and far more who had come to support it.
In fact, before the meeting, owners of four out of six homes surrounding the yeshiva supported the proposal, and another abstained from the entire process, making no public statements about it.
During the three-hour meeting of the board, Dennis Rocks, an engineer with the firm of Leonard Jackson Associates, answered numerous questions by members of the Planning Board and those who opposed the project, and spoke at length about how the original plan for the yeshiva had been amended numerous times to have a minimal impact on the surrounding area.
In fact, many parts of the proposal would do more than help the yeshiva; it would improve the quality of life for Babcock Lane residents as well. The yeshiva would pay to install street lamps along the road, something entirely lacking right now, and in great need, particularly given the narrowness of the road and the many potholes and ditches throughout it. Those ditches would be filled and the road would be rebuilt as well, according to the plan.
When those opposed to the plan stood up to speak, they raised various issues, including several that were completely unrelated to the plan itself, such as statements attacking those involved rather than the plan itself. On a few occasions, the Chairman of the Planning Board interrupted them and asked them to remain on topic. At different times during the engineer’s presentation, opponents shouted and used profanity, while supporters of the plan never interrupted those opposed when they spoke.
Time and again, when relevant issues were raised, the engineer responded, and in most cases, detailed how the plan would not have the unwanted effects that those opposed to said it would. An overarching issue that was raised was how the yeshiva would fit into the existing neighborhood.
“The character of the neighborhood will fit well with this school, and that is why the applicant wants it there,” Dennis Rocks told The Advocate after the meeting had concluded. During a back-and-forth in the middle of the meeting, Rocks addressed the issue by saying, “These students wish to share in the tranquility” of the neighborhood, indicating that the peace and quiet would be respected by the yeshiva.
Another prominent issue raised was that of wetlands. Wetlands are parcels of land whose soil is saturated with water either seasonally or year-round, and provides life to large numbers of tree and animal life. In the case of the proposed yeshiva, some of the property has wetlands, and there are laws protecting those areas.
When asked what impact the yeshiva would have on the wetlands, Rocks replied emphatically, “There is zero disturbance on the wetlands…The Army Corps of Engineers has a definition of disturbance, and we are not disturbing the wetlands.”
Much of the discussion leading up to the meeting revolved around Ron and Judith DePaola, whose house is about 100 feet away from the edge of the property owned by the yeshiva. The DePaola’s, a calm and rational couple whose very day-to-day life hinged on the finality of the proposed yeshiva, were a far cry from the Preserve Ramapo leaders who had come to speak against this plan using the same language they have in the past for all other developments.
The DePaola’s both spoke at the meeting, but they had legitimate concerns that they wanted to be addressed. The largest among them was the expansion of the road, which is currently 16 feet wide, and was proposed to expand to 30 feet. “That would come up to our living room,” Mrs. DePaola said in her remarks to the board.
After they both aired their thoughts on the plan, the engineers and Planning Board members spoke in detail about how best to address them.
Ultimately, they came to a compromise, whereby the road would be expanded to 24 feet, a clear victory in the eyes of the DePaola’s.
These and several other issues were hammered out at the conclusion of the meeting, and the Planning Board voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposed yeshivas with the changes that were agreed to at the meeting. “I am duty-bound to uphold the law,” said board member Walter Brightman, explaining why the board voted to support the plan. “I feel for you, but that’s what I must do,” he told those opposed to it.
“We want to be good neighbors,” Judith DePaola told The Advocate after the board’s decision. “It’s a good compromise,” she continued. The couple explained that they had lived on the street for decades, and didn’t want their quality of life negatively affected. The changes made to the proposal were more than agreeable to them. “I support what they came to,” Ron DePaola stated.
The engineers will have three months to amend all their final plans with agreed-upon changes, and the long building process will commence shortly thereafter. Remarkably, the yeshiva’s approval has gained the support of many, including their neighbors-to-be on Babcock Lane. As mentioned earlier, four of the five nearby property owners who publicly commented on the proposal supported the plan before Tuesday’s meeting. With the DePaola’s ending their opposition after the plan was changed to accommodate their concerns, K’Hal Toras Chaim will build a school in due time, not only with the support of the Planning Board, but now, with all their neighbors standing beside them.
Babcock Lane is a dead end street lined with homes separated from one another by vast lawns and backyards. One of the narrowest streets in Ramapo separates the two sides of the road; each dotted with single-family homes, some with American flags waving lightly in the winter wind. An eerily quiet street, Babcock Lane is made even more so by the fact that it is less than a mile away from the busy Wesley Kosher shopping center on Route 306.
It was the quiet solitude of the neighborhood that first attracted the founders of K’Hal Toras Chaim, a yeshiva that many sought to build on a 13-acre tract of land at the very end of this narrow road off of Route 306 in Monsey. After two years of discussions and negotiations, on Tuesday night, the Ramapo Planning Board voted to approve the yeshiva by an overwhelming majority.
Tuesday night’s meeting was preceded by a great deal of chatter, hype, and lively discussion by several hundred people who had previously come in large numbers to public meetings to oppose similar projects. It was surprising, then, to see that there were only about a dozen people who had come to oppose the project, and far more who had come to support it.
In fact, before the meeting, owners of four out of six homes surrounding the yeshiva supported the proposal, and another abstained from the entire process, making no public statements about it.
During the three-hour meeting of the board, Dennis Rocks, an engineer with the firm of Leonard Jackson Associates, answered numerous questions by members of the Planning Board and those who opposed the project, and spoke at length about how the original plan for the yeshiva had been amended numerous times to have a minimal impact on the surrounding area.
In fact, many parts of the proposal would do more than help the yeshiva; it would improve the quality of life for Babcock Lane residents as well. The yeshiva would pay to install street lamps along the road, something entirely lacking right now, and in great need, particularly given the narrowness of the road and the many potholes and ditches throughout it. Those ditches would be filled and the road would be rebuilt as well, according to the plan.
When those opposed to the plan stood up to speak, they raised various issues, including several that were completely unrelated to the plan itself, such as statements attacking those involved rather than the plan itself. On a few occasions, the Chairman of the Planning Board interrupted them and asked them to remain on topic. At different times during the engineer’s presentation, opponents shouted and used profanity, while supporters of the plan never interrupted those opposed when they spoke.
Time and again, when relevant issues were raised, the engineer responded, and in most cases, detailed how the plan would not have the unwanted effects that those opposed to said it would. An overarching issue that was raised was how the yeshiva would fit into the existing neighborhood.
“The character of the neighborhood will fit well with this school, and that is why the applicant wants it there,” Dennis Rocks told The Advocate after the meeting had concluded. During a back-and-forth in the middle of the meeting, Rocks addressed the issue by saying, “These students wish to share in the tranquility” of the neighborhood, indicating that the peace and quiet would be respected by the yeshiva.
Another prominent issue raised was that of wetlands. Wetlands are parcels of land whose soil is saturated with water either seasonally or year-round, and provides life to large numbers of tree and animal life. In the case of the proposed yeshiva, some of the property has wetlands, and there are laws protecting those areas.
When asked what impact the yeshiva would have on the wetlands, Rocks replied emphatically, “There is zero disturbance on the wetlands…The Army Corps of Engineers has a definition of disturbance, and we are not disturbing the wetlands.”
Much of the discussion leading up to the meeting revolved around Ron and Judith DePaola, whose house is about 100 feet away from the edge of the property owned by the yeshiva. The DePaola’s, a calm and rational couple whose very day-to-day life hinged on the finality of the proposed yeshiva, were a far cry from the Preserve Ramapo leaders who had come to speak against this plan using the same language they have in the past for all other developments.
The DePaola’s both spoke at the meeting, but they had legitimate concerns that they wanted to be addressed. The largest among them was the expansion of the road, which is currently 16 feet wide, and was proposed to expand to 30 feet. “That would come up to our living room,” Mrs. DePaola said in her remarks to the board.
After they both aired their thoughts on the plan, the engineers and Planning Board members spoke in detail about how best to address them.
Ultimately, they came to a compromise, whereby the road would be expanded to 24 feet, a clear victory in the eyes of the DePaola’s.
These and several other issues were hammered out at the conclusion of the meeting, and the Planning Board voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposed yeshivas with the changes that were agreed to at the meeting. “I am duty-bound to uphold the law,” said board member Walter Brightman, explaining why the board voted to support the plan. “I feel for you, but that’s what I must do,” he told those opposed to it.
“We want to be good neighbors,” Judith DePaola told The Advocate after the board’s decision. “It’s a good compromise,” she continued. The couple explained that they had lived on the street for decades, and didn’t want their quality of life negatively affected. The changes made to the proposal were more than agreeable to them. “I support what they came to,” Ron DePaola stated.
The engineers will have three months to amend all their final plans with agreed-upon changes, and the long building process will commence shortly thereafter. Remarkably, the yeshiva’s approval has gained the support of many, including their neighbors-to-be on Babcock Lane. As mentioned earlier, four of the five nearby property owners who publicly commented on the proposal supported the plan before Tuesday’s meeting. With the DePaola’s ending their opposition after the plan was changed to accommodate their concerns, K’Hal Toras Chaim will build a school in due time, not only with the support of the Planning Board, but now, with all their neighbors standing beside them.
Posted by Reserve Ramapo Staff Writer at Thursday, February 25, 2010 11:45:00 PM 
Categories: Ramapo, Christopher P. St. Lawrence, Reserve Ramapo, Rockland County
Tags: Leonard Jackson Associates Leonard Jackson Reserve Ramapo K’Hal Toras Chaim Babcock Lane Town of Ramapo Route 306 Christopher P. St. Lawrence
Categories: Ramapo, Christopher P. St. Lawrence, Reserve Ramapo, Rockland County
Tags: Leonard Jackson Associates Leonard Jackson Reserve Ramapo K’Hal Toras Chaim Babcock Lane Town of Ramapo Route 306 Christopher P. St. Lawrence
The approval of this "school" is a slap in the face to ALL residents of the Town of Ramapo and All residents of Bergen County, N.J. This is clearly a prelude to the disaster being planned for Patrick Farm. The issue is simple, Patrick Farm contains the headwaters of The Mahwah River which flows into the Ramapo River supplying water to over 2 million people down stream. Decisions are made behind closed doors by people who have no interest in any community except the insulated community of "The Hasisc Cult". I am a Jew and I don't consider them Jews because a true a Jewish mensch cares about all the people in their community, not just their own special interests. Only g-d and hopefully the FBI know how this crap is rushed through the Town Board and Planning Board and Zoning Board, all of which I pray are under investigation for unethical and illegal actions. Now we have Mr. Daniel Friedman appointed to The Town Board. Just another example of who is running the town, a small minority with deep pockets and an unacceptable agenda for our Town. Sickening. What qualifications does this man have. Running this website? Interning or working for The County Legislature? Working for Mendel Hoffman who runs an "anti-poverty" agency. This is total BS. This is proof that this minority is in charge and Supervisor St. Lawrence takes orders from them and no one else. I will be curious to see if this post sees the light of day. The days are numbered for this powerful group as voter registration is the peoples main effort now and we will hopefully see a fair and balanced cross section of Ramapo residents filling these crucial positions affecting our community beginning in the next election cycle. Anti-semitism is on the rise for one main reason here in Rockland and other areas for one reason, the behavior of The Hasidic community and their cult leaders actions.
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