The expansion of a Newton Road property in Orchard Park that is home to a Catholic lay group was finished months ago, but a State Supreme Court justice declared the approval of the project “null and void.”
Neighbors say excavation for a pond on Newton Road in Orchard Park depleted three wells and caused two others to go dry on property near Disciples of Divine Mercy in the Holy Face of Jesus’ Mother of Mercy House of Prayer.
Judge Dennis Ward last month also issued an injunction preventing the use of newly constructed buildings or additions, new parking spaces and a reflection pond until the Town of Orchard Park complies with state and town laws and regulations.
The town is appealing the decision.
Neighbors living near the of the Disciples of Divine Mercy in the Holy Face of Jesus, a Catholic lay group at 6131 Newton Road that ministers to the sick and dying, challenged the expansion.
An addition more than doubled the size of an existing building, the parking lot was increased to 61 spaces and crews dug the pond, the latter of which neighbors contend affected water wells, including two that went dry.
The property is owned by John A. and Kathleen M. Wabick, who bought the parcel for $250,000 in 2015.
Neighbors last year formed Friends of Chestnut Ridge,…
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