BULLVILLE – The ongoing struggle over Chestnut Ridge, the 396 town home development planned for the Village of Bloomingburg on land annexed from the Town of Mamakating in 2006, has reached the New York court system on several fronts.

In the past week legal action has highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. First, on January 31, Judge Stephan Schick of the NYS Supreme Court in Sullivan County issued a preliminary injunction and ordered a halt to all new construction at the development. This came during legal action initiated by the Rural Community Coalition seeking to demonstrate that the annexation of land was not legal because residents on that land had not been given a vote on the matter. This is a matter of constitutional rights.

Then, on Wednesday, February 5, the Town of Mamakating's attorney, Ben Gailey, announced that the municipality would be represented by his firm, Jacobowitz and Gubits, in the case before Judge Schick, with the town supporting the RCC in seeking to annul the annexation, and thus all approvals granted to the town home development.

Meanwhile the case brought against Bloomingburg mayor Mark Berentsen by two residents of the village, seeking to have him removed from office, is now in the state Appellate Court. The Rural Community Coalition supports this case, but is not the plaintiff.

On another front, the developer of the Chestnut Ridge town homes, Shalom Lamm, is suing the planning board of the Village of Bloomingburg over their refusal to approve an application for a girls school in a former garage building in the village.

Altogether, three stop work orders have now been issued on various aspects of Lamm's development work. In addition to the one against the town homes, another has halted work on a proposed mikvah (ritual bath for Jewish religious practice) in the Town of Mamakating while a third, in the Village of Bloomingburg, halted work on the former pizzeria building where a change of use was envisaged, but no approvals had been sought from the planning board. Signs on the building had announced a doctor's office and shops.

The stop work order at the town home project allows an exception for two of the buildings, which are to be framed out and roofed to weatherproof them. No interior work is allowed.

Also on Wednesday evening, February 5, the RCC held a meeting at the Bread of Life Church in Bullville.

"It was a successful meeting. It was a shame we couldn't hold it on the Monday evening because the Wednesday meant we had a conflict with the Town of Mamakating board meeting," said RCC president Holly Roche. "But we had very good turnout, more than a hundred people came. I think the community is pleased with our progress in terms of addressing the laws that have been broken, and I also think the community will come together to support our action."

During the meeting audience members noted that they had seen work going on at the Chestnut Ridge development despite Judge Schick's preliminary injunction. Discussion ensued about how to record evidence-worthy video of the work. Some cameras record time and date on such video, and placing a daily newspaper with the date prominent in the shot was also mentioned.

Roche asked that if anyone did see work being done they should contact the RCC, who would notify the relevant authorities very quickly.

The meeting moved on to lengthy discussion of the need to post a $100,000 bond covering the legal action taken by the RCC, to protect the defendant in the case of damage caused by stopping work on his project, but only available to him in the event that he wins the lawsuit. To obtain the bond, $10,000 in cash must be raised, and quickly.

Roche noted that the RCC had just begun the process of reaching out to bond companies.

"No bond, no injunction," she said. "We have two weeks to get this together."

Without the bond the lawsuit would continue, but the preliminary injunction halting work on the site would be lifted.

Roche said that she thought that if the developer loses this case, he will sue the village and the town. But she added that if laws were broken, and corruption is proven, then everything would be different.

When someone in the audience Tuesday raised the matter of ethnic discrimination in terms of the girls' school case, Roche was quick to turn the meeting back to the nuts and bolts of raising money. She said, at one point, "For the lawsuits, the developer went immediately to the anti-Semitic issues that arose on internet sites like Facebook. He will use that as ammunition in court."

Discussion moved on to fundraising efforts. RCC vice president Cathy Heil noted that from 6 to 9 p.m. on March 1, the organization will hold a wine tasting with buffet dinner and silent auction at the Eagles Nest.

This coming Saturday, February 8, a fundraising Walkathon also is being organized... with participants gathering at the Bloomingburg Grocery at 10:30 a.m. and go up and down the main street. That same day there will also be an RCC bake sale at the Winterfest in Wurtsboro. For further information, visit www.ruralcommunitycoalition.com.

Calls and emails to developer Shalom Lamm for comment were not returned in time for this article.