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Monday, January 10, 2011
BY JOSEPH AX
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
TEANECK — A Queen Anne Road congregation that received a house of worship permit last fall after months of controversial hearings has appealed several of the permit’s conditions, calling them arbitrary and unduly burdensome.
Etz Chaim, which battled with several neighbors for years prior to getting approval from the town’s zoning board, asserted in a lawsuit filed in Bergen County Superior Court that the variances it had sought – including a request to have only six parking spaces, rather than the 21 required – were relatively minor in nature.
By contrast, the congregation claimed, the board’s conditions “are vague and ambiguous on their face, largely have no connection to any legitimate land use concern, and are far more onerous than the conditions imposed on other, comparable secular and religious institutions.”
The case has sometimes delved into the murky definition of a “house of worship,” as the congregation holds services in a private residence.
Etz Chaim owns 554 Queen Anne Road, and the group’s rabbi, Daniel Feldman, lives at the home. The congregation received permission from the town to add a family room and to hold private prayer meetings there.
A group of neighbors – some of whom had feuded with one of the members of Etz Chaim prior to the group’s establishment – complained to the town that the congregation should have applied for a house of worship permit.
The town’s zoning official issued a cease and desist order in August 2008, and the congregation decided to apply for the permit rather than filing a lawsuit then. After a series of contentious hearings, the zoning board issued the permit – along with two dozen conditions – last fall.
Among the restrictions flagged in the lawsuit are a ban on using the outdoor space for celebrations, a limit on the number of religious services permitted during the week, a ban on outdoor signage and a requirement that participants leave the home an hour after services are finished on Saturday mornings, as well as others.
“Shackled by the onerous conditions imposed by the board, Etz Chaim is not able to proceed as a fully operational Orthodox Jewish house of worship,” the lawsuit reads.
The suit claims the restrictions violate the group’s First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights, the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and state law. It seeks to have many of the conditions thrown out and to impose punitive and compensatory damages.
The group’s lawyer, Akiva Shapiro, of New York-based Gibson Dunn, said his clients would welcome an out-of-court settlement.
Harold Ritvo, the zoning board attorney, did not return a call seeking comment. Rif Campeas, one of the neighbors who led the fight against Etz Chaim, declined to comment on the suit.
E-mail: ax@northjersey.com
Neighbor Bypass
Monday, January 10, 2011
BY JOSEPH AX
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
TEANECK — A Queen Anne Road congregation that received a house of worship permit last fall after months of controversial hearings has appealed several of the permit’s conditions, calling them arbitrary and unduly burdensome.
Etz Chaim, which battled with several neighbors for years prior to getting approval from the town’s zoning board, asserted in a lawsuit filed in Bergen County Superior Court that the variances it had sought – including a request to have only six parking spaces, rather than the 21 required – were relatively minor in nature.
By contrast, the congregation claimed, the board’s conditions “are vague and ambiguous on their face, largely have no connection to any legitimate land use concern, and are far more onerous than the conditions imposed on other, comparable secular and religious institutions.”
The case has sometimes delved into the murky definition of a “house of worship,” as the congregation holds services in a private residence.
Etz Chaim owns 554 Queen Anne Road, and the group’s rabbi, Daniel Feldman, lives at the home. The congregation received permission from the town to add a family room and to hold private prayer meetings there.
A group of neighbors – some of whom had feuded with one of the members of Etz Chaim prior to the group’s establishment – complained to the town that the congregation should have applied for a house of worship permit.
The town’s zoning official issued a cease and desist order in August 2008, and the congregation decided to apply for the permit rather than filing a lawsuit then. After a series of contentious hearings, the zoning board issued the permit – along with two dozen conditions – last fall.
Among the restrictions flagged in the lawsuit are a ban on using the outdoor space for celebrations, a limit on the number of religious services permitted during the week, a ban on outdoor signage and a requirement that participants leave the home an hour after services are finished on Saturday mornings, as well as others.
“Shackled by the onerous conditions imposed by the board, Etz Chaim is not able to proceed as a fully operational Orthodox Jewish house of worship,” the lawsuit reads.
The suit claims the restrictions violate the group’s First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights, the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and state law. It seeks to have many of the conditions thrown out and to impose punitive and compensatory damages.
The group’s lawyer, Akiva Shapiro, of New York-based Gibson Dunn, said his clients would welcome an out-of-court settlement.
Harold Ritvo, the zoning board attorney, did not return a call seeking comment. Rif Campeas, one of the neighbors who led the fight against Etz Chaim, declined to comment on the suit.
E-mail: ax@northjersey.com
