Property Owner, New Castle Agree on Plan After Guilty Plea in Tree Case

The Chappaqua homeowner accused of illegally removing hundreds of trees from his property pleaded guilty to reduced charges last week and has agreed to pay a fine and restitution and devise a vegetation plan.

Dr. Yossi Haroush, a veterinarian with a practice in Briarcliff Manor, and his wife, Rebecca Marshall, were standing trial in New Castle Town Court for allegedly having caused the demise of 560 trees.

But before the third day of the trial could resume last Thursday and after nearly a three-hour closed-door meeting, Haroush took a plea arrangement where he pleaded to 20 of the 560 violations. Of those, 19 were related to the unauthorized removal of trees on his 5.25-acre property at 7 Mayberry Close and the 20^th related to steep slopes.

It was recognized that the removal of 102 trees could be unequivocally verified using aerial photos, but that 12 were allowed to be removed because they were determined to have died, reducing the violation to 90 trees.

The agreement, announced to Town Justice Noah Sorkin, stipulates that Haroush will pay $42,000 in fines; plant 117 saplings that are two-and-a-half inches in diameter and consisting of various species or pay $32,175 into the town’s tree bank; and test the soil that was brought in and dumped on portions of the property to ascertain that there is no risk or hazard to the steep slopes and to determine whether the fill is clean or needs to be removed.

Town Prosecutor Stuart Miller said Haroush will have to put up a performance bond of a still-undetermined amount of money until there has been a determination made by the town and its environmental experts about the exact extent of the work that will need to be done. Then he has to put up a maintenance bond that will be one-third the amount of the performance bond. The maintenance bond will be held for five years, Miller said.

As part of the plea agreement, Marshall has been excused from the proceedings, including the process of remediating the site.

Rocco D’Agostino, the attorney for Haroush, said he was satisfied that the matter has been resolved and that his client can make sure to take the steps needed to clean up the property. He intimated that the contractor for the job dumped multiple trucks of fill on the property without Haroush’s knowledge.

“We are going to have to work together and I think the town will be better for it,” D’Agostino said.

Miller said he believed the agreement would help the town be made whole and also ensure the neighboring property owners, including Pruyn Sanctuary, are protected from any environmental risks that could have occurred.

He said it was “a fair and just agreement.”

“Restitution’s made, payment’s made, and then health and safety is paramount to the neighbors,” Miller said. “We were talking to some of the neighbors yesterday after the plea agreement, they were most happy about the soil testing. They were appreciative. The town did not have a method to enforce soil testing.”

The town had issued a stop work order on May 17, 2022, after the Building Department learned there was illegal activity at the site. According to a July 27, 2023, complaint filed by the town, the town alleged that 560 trees were affected, including some that had their base and roots covered with fill from off site. The town’s environmental coordinator, Dennis Corelli, had testified that those trees would die.

During the trial, which started Aug. 1, resumed on Aug. 8 and was set to reconvene last Thursday, D’Agostino had argued that the number of trees that the town alleged were taken down was significantly inflated.

Martin Wilbur

Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/