WHITE LAKE, NY — Developer Shaya Boymelgreen is back before the Bethel planning board for a subdivision on the peninsula that juts out into White Lake adjacent to the neighborhood known as the Beechwood.

He tried to move forward with building four large homes on about 39 acres in 2011. He bought two lots in Beechwood that he intended to use for access to his three properties in the adjoining neighborhood of Plum Beach. He also wanted to use a paper road in Beechwood that had been used as a driveway by a property owner for decades, as access to a fourth house in Plum Beech.

The neighbors got a lawyer who said the plans could not legally go forward because the two neighborhoods, Plum Beach and Beechwood, had been separated by a legally impermeable five-foot reserve early in the 20th century.

The matter ended up in court, and Judge Mark Meddaugh sided with the neighbors and said Boymelgreen had no right to pierce the reserve and build the access roads where he wanted to. The neighbors were pleased because it meant less traffic would be going through their neighborhood, and some of them were not excited about the arrival of four 5,000- or 6,000-square-foot homes in their community of modest homes. Boymelgreen appealed the court decision, but he lost that case as well.

Now Boymelgreen is back in front of the Bethel planning board, aiming to move forward with roughly the same plan, now with one of the homes as large as 12,000 square feet. This time, though, the access road to one of the properties would not go through a Beechwood property, but would go through a lot on Naylor Road, which is located in a neighborhood called Homestead. Boymelgreen has a contract on the vacant property on which he would locate a driveway.

The neighbors, who preferred not to be identified, said this would turn the property into a “non-conforming lot,” which runs counter to town code. The planning board, however, may have the authority to grant a variance to allow the driveway. But, the neighbors argue, that may also run counter to town code if the variance is granted to mitigate a “self-created” hardship. Boymelgreen says the hardship is not self created, but is due to the steepness of the lot on which the house would be built. The neighbors counter that the hardship is the developer’s decision about whether to build on the steep property.

Attorney Pamela Richards, representing Boymelgreen, appeared in front of the planning board in October 2014, and referring to the planned driveway on Naylor Road, said, “Just to be clear, the access will be going through property that the applicant is buying outright, with no question of ownership.”

The neighbors say the only deeded access to the property is through a road called Lake Shore Road. Several of the neighbors appeared at a public hearing on the question of the subdivision in February, and raised various objections about construction of four large homes in Plum Beach.

Lake Shore Road is in the middle of a five-year bank stabilization project because of erosion caused by waves in White Lake. There is concern in the community that excessive weight and vibration resulting from the proposed construction could undermine the existing work completed, interrupt the continued work planned and potentially compromise the road itself. The road serves as the access road to 15 homeowners in Beechwood, as well as being the only road the community uses to access their docks.

Additionally, the Boymelgreen property is higher in elevation to nearby properties in Homestead and to one property owner in Plum Beach. The owners are concerned about run-off issues.

Various other environmental concerns were also expressed at the public hearing, but at the end of the meeting, the board issued a negative declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review, which means the board believes the project will result in no significant adverse environmental impacts.

In the meantime, Boymelgreen’s real estate development business in Manhattan and Brooklyn suffered during the Great Recession, and has been beset by lawsuits and judgments in recent years.

An entry from a March 6 article in the New York Times reads, “Mr. Boymelgreen, who has been named in other construction-defect lawsuits in Brooklyn and Manhattan, is currently under investigation by state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman for defects at 15 Broad Street, a condo conversion in the Financial District. Last spring, a judge granted a temporary restraining order against Mr. Boymelgreen and another business partner, barring them from condo and co-op sales in the city. The restraining order is still in place, pending the outcome of the attorney general’s investigation.”