Neighbors upset by an uptick in event traffic

Lawrence village is responding to what a resident called “illegal operations” taking place in the community at May 9 board of trustees meeting.

Mark David Catering, operating out of 140 Central Ave. in Lawrence, managed by Moshe David, has upset village residents in the immediate area, especially those on Cumberland Place, homeowner Tali Halpern said, because of the traffic influx from events.

“The safety concern is real, my son bikes back every single night at 11:30 from yeshiva,” Halpern said. “He bikes back, I would not allow him to bike if there are weddings taking place on the block every night.”

Currently, events are not taking place between Passover and Shavuot. However they are expected to restart again come summer, Halpern said.

“There have been two tickets for each separate violation,” Ron Goldman, Lawrence’s village administrator said at the May 9 meeting, one to the catering company and one to the manager.

According to village officials, the caterer is violating village zoning laws, by operating as a caterer, a solo entity in an area where that is not permitted.

Halpern urged the village to handle the matter through its Board of Zoning Appeals, ruling the operations of the caterer not a permissive use.

The village responded that as an appeal body, the BZA could not make the first decision on the matter. However, the caterer could seek relief from the BZA from the criminal ticket issued by the village. If the caterer paid the ticket fine, the issue would not go to the BZA, the village said.

The caterer appeared in Lawrence Village court on May 21 for a conference and trial.

“This is a village, so what has happened is that usually there are disputes between village residents, and the court takes an effort to resolve it between the residents because we all have to live together,” Goldman said at the meeting. “Hence, there’s an opportunity for a conference. In the event that it’s irreconcilable, then it gets set down for a trial and our trial here is before the judge, you don’t have a jury for something like this.”

Goldman said that after May 21, if the caterer were to violate the law again, the village would turn to the BZA.

“We’ll give him tickets for that and we’ll instruct the building department to take a shot,” Goldman said.

The 140 Central Ave. property is owned by the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC, which also houses Temple Israel of Lawrence, a Reform Jewish congregation.

“We own the property they are our tenants,” Stacey Feldman, executive director of the JCC said. “They are two separate tenants as they always have been.”

The JCC purchased the property in 2017.

“There has been a caterer at that property for many, many years,” Feldman said.

In recent years, the JCC was informed of neighbors concerns related to parking when events occur.

“There has been communication between the JCC, the caterer and the village of Lawrence,” Feldman said.

As of press time, the matter is pending in village court.

“Because there are proceedings pending in court my attorneys have advised me not to comment,” David wrote in an email.