Mountain Lodge - A Not-So-Neighborly Dispute, "No, You Can't Live in A Shed!"
- ejreporter
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
Blooming Grove - An ongoing dispute between 2 adjacent properties up in the hills and trails of what is known as "Mountain Lodge" was set straight by Supervisor Rob Jeroloman and his Town Board. A couple who lives in a house on one of the private trails came to a recent board meeting and told a tale of mountain mischief during these days of mini-mansions being built in clearings at the edge of the woods and others who buy a "fixer-upper" to save money. The neighbor, who was doing a lot of work on his house and property, put a shed up just outside of his lot's property line, actually ON the property of the complaining couple. After telling him that the shed was on their land, he moved it. However, he moved it to a site in FRONT of the main house, which is also a clear code violation. The couple had brought a stack of photos and quite a list of the violations they believed had been broken. After going over each one of them with the Supervisor in detail, he was given the set of images.
The meeting continued with the Work Session addressing some code changes that are in the works, including Tree-Cutting and Ridgeline Protection, and tonight's Town Board Meeting is holding a Public Hearing about the Ridgeline Protection criteria changes.
Mountain Lodge is a one-of-a-kind place to live. At the foothills of the Schunnemunk Ridge and with about a dozen trails intermingled with forest, it was a popular Summer getaway for many NYC dwellers who purchased a small piece of land and had their own cabin-in-the country. Most years some are still available to rent for the Summer. But renters beware. Even most of the side gravel roads are Private and are maintained by the homeowners. They work together on the roads with some volunteer help from Highway Superintendent Wayne Kirkpatrick who plows up to the private section and in Winter leaves some extra millings and gravel to fill the worst of the potholes and give them some traction.
Mt. Lodge has since attracted a mix of vacationers, artists, a few work-from-home businesses, and a group of First Responders from the Mt. Lodge Firehouse. These are independent folks, some of which don't really care for a lot of rules and being told what to do. But they are also a close-knit community and generally mind their own business and help keep each other in line.
But this couple had enough of their foot-loose and fancy-free neighbor when they found that he not only had moved the shed to another illegal spot, he was living in it... and with no facilities.
The Dispute's Outcome
Two weeks later the couple returned to the next Town Board Meeting to find that Supervisor Jeroloman had not only spoken with the Building Department, but working together they had determined that were about 30 code violations at the site. The violations had been delivered several days before the meeting, and the Town is waiting for a response. If it is not received in a timely manner the issue will go to court.
Moral of the story..... even at the edge of a significant span of wilderness, and even if it is on your own land, you must follow local rules, and most definitely are not permitted to live in a shed without running water or a toilet.
Actually, it is even illegal to live in a fancy 30-foot RV.
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