A massive housing project in Orange County that’s been marred by months of community complaints, stop work orders and fines now has state approval to begin construction.

The controversial project in South Blooming Grove, Clovewood, has been on hold during a construction boom and water crisis in the village but now - the Department of Environmental Conservation has agreed to grant Keen Equities, LLC’s permit application.

The developer plans to build 600 units and the number of residents expected to move in will more than double the village in size.

Sen. James Skoufis says the project will overwhelm the tiny community that’s already seeing a massive influx of people moving in.

“From the start, this project has been inappropriate, and I believe the DEC errored in its decision,” Skoufis says.

News 12 tried to talk to several people living in the community about the much-needed housing, but no one wanted to talk. A community source who asked not to be identified for their safety is echoing concerns. “It’s a huge travesty that there’s no more rural area. They made the whole town into a huge metropolitan city like Manhattan.”

Assistant Mayor Joel Stern allegedly works for the developer, according to documents obtained by News 12 that seemingly link him to the company. The village isn’t responding to our requests for information to clarify.

Stern skirted News 12’s questions about Clovewood earlier this year while recording the exchange on his cellphone and village officials proceeded to follow News 12’s vehicle to the site and throughout the community.

Mayor George Kalaj hasn’t responded to our inquiries for months and, as we've reported, sold his modest village home several years ago for 10 times the market value.

“He’s nowhere to be found. He made millions of dollars off his property and he’s a no-show. He’s hiding,” says the source.

A representative for the DEC says the decision was made after a thorough review which included hundreds of written and verbal comments. The Brooklyn-based developer will be required to provide their own water for the housing complex, perform well monitoring and have a mitigation plan for any community water problems that may arise from construction.

Keen Equities LLC was previously fined roughly $228,000 by the DEC for a variety of environmental violations. Once constructed, the development is expected to use more than 507,000 gallons of water a day, according to their state permit application.