Neighbors of a Lehigh Street man facing fines for a debris field in his backyard again voiced complaints and asked the Williston Park Village Board to take action at Monday night’s board meeting.
Village of Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar reiterated what he told the residents when several complained about the same thing at a board meeting last month.
“We’ve asked our prosecutor to move it in the court as soon as possible,” Ehrbar told them. “Our hands are tied. There’s nothing we can do until the courts give us discretion.”
When one resident began citing code violations the village could use to write summonses to the owner of the premises, village building inspector Kerry Collins told the resident that several summonses have already been written.
Bernard Stoehr, the owner of the house at 101 Lehigh Street, has received summonses for lack of property maintenance and zoning violations for three cars sitting in his backyard.
Residents have described a malodorous debris-strewn backyard that prevented them from using their own yards during the summer months.
But Ehrbar said he can only commiserate at this point.
“Both myself and the board are sympathetic and understand the frustration of the residents and we’ve done everything we can legally do to move this forward,” Ehrbar said.
The village’s action in issuing summonses to Stoehr seems likely to have an impact on the situation soon. During a village court appearance earlier this month, Williston Park acting Village Court Justice Beth Swendson-Dowd told Stoehr he would face a trial on Nov. 7, with or without an attorney, and warned him of the consequences if he had not removed the debris from his yard by then.
“You are facing fines in the range of thousands of dollars,” Swendson-Dowd told him.
At the outset of Stoehr’s court appearance, village prosecutor Edward Emanuele told Swendson-Dowd that Stoehr had not complied with calls to clean up the yard.
Stoehr told Swendson-Dowd health problems had prevented him from cleaning up the yard. He said he had been out of work for the past four years and would not be able to pay the fines she said could be imposed.
The judge told Stoehr that if he was unable to pay the fines, the village could put liens against his property.
Ehrbar said the village isn’t seeking to cause Stoehr financial hardship, but rather wants him to remedy the situation.
“We’re not looking for fine money. We just want him to clean up the horrendous situation,” Ehrbar said.
