Highland Falls officials, residents cry foul over unauthorized rooster
DiSalvo said his staff will likely have to use valuable time and resources, which are funded by the taxpayers, to go through all necessary legal steps to allow village staff to go onto the property to remove the rooster and the hens.
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Cindy Phillips cannot take it anymore.
Every morning for the last 11 months, a rooster just a few doors down from her starts crowing - and just keeps going.
"He screams, typically, all day, every day," she said during News 12's visit to her home Wednesday.
Phillips has filed complaints with Village Hall, the police and the Town of Highlands Building Department regarding the rooster, which lives with a few hens in a tight backyard setting.
She also wrote a letter to the editor of The News of The Highlands, which was published in full.
"Last August, it became painfully obvious that the neighbors had a rooster that screams from sun-up to sundown," Phillips read from her letter. "It's unfair for everyone to have to listen to this rooster daily and be exposed to sewage that can endanger our health."
Highland Falls village code limits loud animals that may cause disturbances within a neighborhood.
The code also states livestock shelters cannot be located within 100 feet of any property line.
News 12 reviewed multiple notices of code violations filed by town and village officials against Robert Lerch, a tenant at the Schneider Avenue home.
Mayor James DiSalvo said each time the police and building department officials have tried to serve him with the notices, Lerch would not open the door.
DiSalvo said his staff will likely have to use valuable time and resources, which are funded by the taxpayers, to go through all necessary legal steps to allow village staff to go onto the property to remove the rooster and the hens.
"[He was] notified it was an issue and not allowed, didn't care, don't care that they're bothering their neighbors," DiSalvo said in an interview Wednesday at his office, "so now we're at this point."
A man who answered the door of the residence Wednesday morning said he had nothing to add to the story and did not want to comment.
Phillips came away from her most recent talk with village officials optimistic.
"In the scheme of the world, it doesn't seem like a big deal," she said, "but everyday for 11 months? It's kind of a big deal now."
DiSalvo said Lerch has until August 1 to remove the rooster or else village staff will remove the rooster.
