MAMAKATING – The Town of Mamakating is currently studying a proposal to impose a moratorium on the conversion of seasonal residences to year-round usage. The measure is designed to address vagaries and inconsistencies in the town's code regarding such conversions, and to give the zoning board of appeal some breathing room, as it has been flooded with such requests.

Mamakating Town Councilman, Dr. Robert Justus, has been one of the individuals involved with crafting the moratorium. Upon his election to the town board in 2007, he had sat down with the chairmen of the other various boards in order to address any concerns they might be having. It was at this point that then-ZBA chairman Bill Fedun indicated that something needed to be done to address this problem.

"There are gray areas in the [town code]," says Justus. "The law wasn't clear cut. There are variables as to how strict [the ZBA] needs to be [with regard to seasonal conversions]."

The moratorium is designed to give the town time to fully address the problem.

At the heart of the issue is the fact that many sections of the Town of Mamakating were zoned for small-lot, seasonal dwellings. These seasonal lots usually contain houses that were intended to be used only during the warm-weather months. As such, they have limited septic systems which are designed for lower capacity. In converting these dwellings to year-round usage, there is a large strain placed upon their modest sanitation systems. This then leads to a situation in which the excess effluent has nowhere to go but into the ground water. If coupled with a small lot size — lots which are often forced to place wells in relatively close proximity to septic systems — a potential public health hazard becomes all too clear.

This is particularly the case in Wurtsboro Hills, a formerly seasonal community that has many homes that have been converted for year-round use.

Evelyn DeGuzman, the former president of the Wurtsboro Hills Community Association, is taking this moratorium with a grain of salt, however.

"We requested a moratorium because our lake was polluted," says DeGuzman. She says that residents then began testing their wells, only to find that they, too, were contaminated. "They all came back with e coli," she says.

The first moratorium was imposed several years ago, she says, under the administration of the late Charles Penna. But DeGuzman states that the Penna administration failed to enact any changes to the code, hence her skepticism.

"We need the town to recognize the problem," she says. "We did a moratorium before and the town did [nothing].

Members of the town board are adamant, however, that they are taking DeGuzman's concerns seriously, and that this moratorium, when imposed, will give the town the leeway it needs in order to make the changes that DeGuzman seeks.

"We're working to make a good law," says Town Supervisor Robert Fiore.

A longer-term solution remains unclear, however. If there are homes with contaminated wells, it's up to the Sullivan County Board of Health to address the situation, something that DeGuzman dreads, as this could lead to the condemnation of homes.

The moratorium will continue to be an agenda item during the next several town board meetings. Fiore, et al., hope to have it in place by the first of the year.

COMMENTS about this article (0)