Protecting Clarkstown Homeowners – Proposed Chapter 135 to the Code of the Town of Clarkstown

A local Home Improvement Contractors law, drafted for our Town.

Every year, families in Clarkstown invest tens of thousands of dollars — sometimes their life savings — into the homes where they raise their children, care for aging parents, and build their lives. When a contractor walks off the job with the deposit, or disappears behind a new business name after shoddy work, the damage isn’t just financial. It’s the kitchen unfinished before the holidays. The roof that still leaks after the second check clears. The savings account drained with nothing to show for it.

Clarkstown residents deserve better. Proposed Chapter 135 establishes a local registration, consumer protection, and enforcement framework designed specifically to protect the people who live and own property in this Town.

What the law does for homeowners

• Requires every home improvement contractor working in Clarkstown to register with the Town and post a $50,000 surety bond that homeowners can claim against if a contractor defaults.
• Caps upfront deposits at one-third of the contract price, and requires deposits over $25,000 to be held in a joint-controlled escrow account that cannot be released without the homeowner’s signature at each milestone.
• Gives every homeowner a three-business-day right to cancel any home improvement contract, printed in bold type on the first page.
• Creates a Clarkstown Home Improvement Restitution Fund, financed by contractor registration surcharges — not by taxpayer dollars — to compensate homeowners who win a judgment against a bad contractor but cannot collect.
• Establishes an independent Hearing Panel of neutral attorneys — not politicians — to adjudicate complaints, with full due process, a written record, and appeal rights.
• Publishes a public, searchable registry of every registered contractor, and any suspensions or revocations, so homeowners can verify before they sign.

What the law does for honest contractors

• Levels the playing field. Contractors who already run ethical businesses stop losing jobs to operators who cut corners and disappear.
• Provides a clear, predictable local framework with transparent enforcement.
• Extends the Town’s solid waste transport exemption under Chapter 149 to locally registered contractors, so job-site debris disposal is straightforward for the people doing the work right.

Why this matters now

Rockland County has regulated home improvement contractors since 1984. Clarkstown residents deserve a local program — administered in town, enforceable in town, and accountable to the people who live here.

This law is a supplement, not a replacement. A valid County license remains required for every contractor. Chapter 135 simply adds a local layer of consumer protection on top of what the County already requires.

Read the full draft

The complete text of proposed Chapter 135 is available below. Feedback from homeowners, contractors, and community members is welcome. This is your law — if we’re going to do it, let’s do it right.

Proposed Zoning Moratorium for Clarkstown

A local Zoning Moratorium law, drafted for our Town.

This proposed local law would place a temporary moratorium on the review, approval, and issuance of permits for certain development applications, ensuring that major land-use decisions comply with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan and receive full environmental review and community input before moving forward.

Over the past few years, Clarkstown has rewritten major parts of its zoning code — creating and amending the Hamlet Center Zoning Districts in New City, Congers, Valley Cottage, and West Nyack. These changes open the door to denser, higher-impact development in the heart of our communities. The problem is that the environmental review behind them never took the careful, project-level “hard look” that New York law requires. This proposed local law hits pause so that growth happens by plan, not by accident.

Clarkstown residents deserve development that follows the Town’s own long-range vision — not a wave of approvals rushed through before anyone has studied what they will actually do to our roads, our neighborhoods, and our quality of life. A temporary moratorium gives the Town the time to get it right.

Why this proposal is on the table

• It honors the Town’s own plan. In 2021, Clarkstown adopted a Comprehensive Plan Update — which also served as the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (the “2021 FGEIS”) — setting the official, long-range vision for smart, sustainable growth that preserves community character while providing for diverse housing and economic opportunity.
• The environmental review fell short. When the Hamlet Center Zoning Districts were created and amended in 2023 and 2025, the review resulted in a Negative Declaration. There is substantial reason to find that this review was legally insufficient to satisfy the Town’s obligations under its own 2021 FGEIS.
• SEQRA requires a closer look. The 2021 FGEIS expressly calls for later implementing actions to undergo further site- and action-specific detailed review. A generic review may not have taken the required “hard look” at the specific, cumulative impacts on traffic, infrastructure, and community character that higher-density zoning invites.
• Traffic was never properly studied. The 2021 FGEIS identifies traffic congestion as a major Town issue and commits Clarkstown to a Complete Streets approach and proactive access management. Yet the new Hamlet Center districts were adopted without a fresh, comprehensive traffic study of the cumulative impact of the density they permit.

What the moratorium would do

• Place a temporary pause on the review, approval, and issuance of permits for certain development applications affected by the recent zoning changes — a time-out, not a permanent ban.
• Give the Town the breathing room to complete the proper, project-specific environmental review the law requires, so decisions are made with the facts in hand.
• Make sure major land-use decisions actually comply with the Town’s 2021 Comprehensive Plan rather than drifting away from the vision residents were promised.
• Protect neighborhood character, traffic safety, and infrastructure by preventing a rush of high-impact approvals before their cumulative effects are understood.
• Restore public trust and transparency by inviting full community input during the review period.

Why this matters now

Once a project is approved and built, there is no undo button. A short, lawful pause today protects Clarkstown from years of regret tomorrow — and ensures that when we do grow, we grow the right way, in line with the plan our community already adopted. This is a draft for discussion; your feedback as a resident, business owner, or neighbor is exactly what this process is meant to capture.

Read the full draft

The complete text of the proposed Zoning Moratorium is available below. Feedback from homeowners, businesses, and community members is welcome.