The appeal of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act lawsuit brought against developer Shalom Lamm and others regarding the controversial development Villages at Chestnut Ridge in Bloomingburg was denied by a federal appeals court today. The lawsuit, which was brought by the Town of Mamakating and the Village of Bloomingburg, before Lamm supporters were voted into the village board, was dismissed by a federal judge last fall.

Mamakating supervisor Bill Herrman released a statement that said, "We are disappointed in today's ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which denied the appeal and restoration of the RICO case. We remain firm in our belief that the lawsuit was necessary and proper to bring. The court ruled that the town sued too late. Unfortunately, the recently unsealed documents which contain statements about how defendants had kept secret the true plans for the nature, scope and size of Chestnut Ridge and which support many of the allegations of the RICO complaint, were not part of the record before the appellate court came to its decision. Nonetheless, we believe that bringing this action was in the best interests of the Town and helped in the disclosure of the secret plans and false representations concerning the Chestnut Ridge developers. We will continue to cooperate with investigations regarding the Chestnut Ridge development.”