By Hadassa Kalatizadeh
A new lawsuit alleges that Long Island bureaucrats told a woman to put her wheelchair-bound relatives in the basement, as they proceeded to reject her home expansion plans which would have accommodated their special needs.
As reported by the NY Post, Debra Buffa, 50, became the caregiver for her severely ill parents and her younger brother JP, who has been in a persistent vegetative state for over 25 years. She moved the three relatives into her home to better care for them, but wanted to expand the home’s ground level in order to accommodate them. “We’re at a loss,” said Debra Buffa. She is suing the Village in Brooklyn Federal Court for discrimination, seeking unspecified damages, related to their denial of her permit.
Buffa and her husband, Eric, moved with their three children into a 6,000-square-foot home in Lake Grove in 2017. Even at the start, they had plans to expand the home to accommodate JP, now 39, who had suffered a stroke when he was 13.
The home was in foreclosure when they purchased it, and had 6-bedrooms and an open floor plan. The first-floor master suite would be set up for JP, who needs a temperature-controlled environment. However, only eight months after moving in, Buffa’s 75-year-old parents suffered a decline in health. Her mother, Paula, fractured her shoulder and her father, James, was diagnosed with colon cancer. “I needed to be in two places at once,” said Buffa, speaking of her brother and mom in Coram and her father in the hospital.
She moved them all into her house. Her mother, who cannot go up the stairs to the bedrooms, sleeps in the dining room; her wheelchair-bound father sleeps in an office; and JP is stuck in his room, unable to venture out. So in October 2018, the family began building an 800-square-foot, one-story addition. The expansion, however, was swiftly halted with a stop-work order. The Village of Lake Grove ultimately rejected the project, saying it was too large.
As per the Post, Zoning Board chairman Robert Gaudioso censured the family for starting the building without a permit. The family was assessed and paid a $550 fine. Gaudioso suggested that the family just put Paula, James and JP in the basement or garage, or renovate the home’s interior instead of expanding.
Buffa maintains that those options are unsafe and/or too expensive for her. “They’re treating us like criminals,” she said. “I wasn’t building a mancave. … let me take care of my family.” For now the three family members remain packed on the first floor. “It’s heartbreaking,” Buffa said.
Buffa’s lawyer in the suit, Doreen Shindel, said, “The Buffas were punished because they dared to initiate construction prior to receiving the approval of the … board members, and to hell with making exceptions for the disabled.”
