FORESTBURGH – A second Federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed against the Town of Forestburgh which alleges that a zoning change adopted into law in November of last year was put in place to prohibit Orthodox Jewish developers from building a residential community known as Lost Lakes Resort.

The lawsuit was filed by Storzer & Associates, P.C. and Savad Churgin in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on January 16. It names Lost Lake Holdings LLC, Mishconos Mazah LLC, Rose Halberstam and Rabbi Mordechai Halberstam as the Plaintiffs and the Town of Forestburgh and the Forestburgh Town Board as the defendants. 

It argues that the town violated the Federal Fair Housing Act and the US Constitution.

Eric W. Treene, Esq. of Storzer & Associates, P.C. writes that “after the project was sold to Orthodox Jewish developers in 2020, the Town immediately changed its position towards the project.” The developers purchased the property for $13,300,000.

Treene continues to argue that the town’s position on the project was in support of a similar project in the early 2010’s, which would have seen the Texas-based developer Double Diamond Companies construct over 2,000 homes on a 3.3-square mile parcel. In 2013, the first phase of said project was approved, which included 400 homes and a nine-hole golf course.

“Town officials engaged in massive resistance to the project at every turn, including denial of building permits, imposition of exorbitant new fees on the project, and numerous procedural irregularities designed to stop the development. These included excessive tax assessments, which a state appeals court recently disallowed,” Treene said. “The lawsuit alleges that all of these efforts were designed to prevent Orthodox Jews from moving to the Town.”

The prior discrimination lawsuit against the town remains ongoing.

The Democrat reached out to the Forestburgh Town Supervisor Dan Hogue Jr. but did not hear back by presstime.