GREENFIELD PARK - A development on Tamarack Road, called Greenfield Meadows, is causing concern among residents, and raising questions as to the Town of Wawarsing's policy towards code violations.

Over 40 recently constructed homes, and many of the residents of those homes have, according to Building Code Enforcement Officer Jack Kissel, moved in without those buildings having certificates of occupancy.

However, Kissel said that the situation is currently being worked out between attorneys of the Wawarsing Planning Board and that of Greenfield Meadows, Marylou Christiana and Jeff Kaplan, respectively, and that the development's owner is looking to obtain temporary certificates while the work on the development is being finished. He also assured that, despite the lack of certificates, the development is safe, and none of the unfinished aspects of it pose risks or dangers to any of its inhabitants, saying that all that's really left to be completed is paving and landscaping, such as planting the trees and bushes that have been marked on the approved sketch plan.

"The bottom line is the structures are safe," said Kissel. "We have approvals for the sewer and water systems, we've got a sewage treatment plant down there, we have a municipal water system, they have two wells, and it's been approved by the health department."

According to the Village of Ellenville's Building Code Enforcement Officer Brian Schug, who also sits on the Wawarsing Town Planning Board, there are a few options code enforcement officers have when presented with people who have inhabited a building without a certificate of occupancy.

"I would immediately apply to our local court first, and apply for a temporary restraining order, restraining them from occupying the house," said Schug of what he would do if he found people living in an otherwise safe structure that was without a certificate of occupancy.

The reason for issuing the restraining orders and tickets of violation, said Schug, is to obtain compliance from the breakers, and also to legally cover the municipality. Should there be an emergency or a fire at a site for which there is no certificate of occupancy, he said, the municipality could be held liable.

"Not having a CO and having them live there with the town condoning it is unsafe for everybody," said Schug. "It's unsafe, obviously, for the people that live there, first and foremost. It puts the town in liability…the first thing these insurance companies ask for is, 'let me see the certificate of occupancy.' Especially if it's a fire as a result of some kind of mechanical failure issue that has to do with a boiler or something that was installed in the house and not inspected."

However, Kissel also said that there would not be any tickets of violation, orders to appear before a town justice, or restraining orders filed against the residents of the homes who have broken the law by inhabiting the buildings without certificates of occupancy.

The reasons behind this decision were not made clear, but he did say that arrangements between Christiana and Kaplan to obtain temporary certificates were going to be finalized soon.

When asked about what the building department could or would do in response to the violation of the code, Wawarsing Town Supervisor Ed Jennings didn't have any answers either.

"I don't know what our recourse is. That sounds like a legal question. I'm not qualified to answer any legal questions. But if there's no certificate of occupancy, I don't understand why they're there. They shouldn't be there," said Jennings.

Yet another wrinkle in this situation is the official classification of the development itself: the Town of Wawarsing has it classified as a bungalow expansion, which would be assessed one way and would receive one tax bill for the property's owner. Ulster County, however, has received an application for Greenfield Meadows to be classified as a condominium development, which would necessitate a different method of assessment, and, according to Town Assessor Mike Sommer, would likely result in lower tax bills for the owners of the condominiums - thereby shifting the tax burden they would be avoiding onto the rest of the town's taxpayers.

The first time the issues regarding the development were brought to public discussion was at the August 8 Wawarsing Town Council meeting, when residents Joan Beck and Fran Elias came before the board to raise their concerns about the safety of the development. They said that the development, incomplete as it was (and remains) appeared to be a hazard for the residents, particularly the children who are there. They cited a large, open drainage pipe into which they feared a child could crawl and get hurt. However, Kissel said that the safety of the development is not currently an issue.

Jeff Kaplan was unavailable for comment as he was on vacation as of press time. Calls made to Chesky Laundau, the owner of the Greenfield Meadows development, were not returned.