JACKSON – Several houses in residentially zoned neighborhoods have been identified by neighbors as being used for purposes of religious services in the last few years and they want to know why no action has been taken.
Keary and Michael Smith live right next to a house on East Connecticut Concourse Road which they say has been used as a shul for months now. They have observed construction work at that house for more than a year. They say it is not being used as a residence or occupied during the week but for religious purposes on weekends.
“The town is sitting on a cease-and-desist order for this residence with absolutely no explanation to me or anyone else. I feel that my town has let me down and that after living here for 22 years and paying taxes and being a good citizen means nothing to them,” Keary Smith said.
She also told The Jackson Times that “my neighbors can do illegal work continually after being issued a stop work order. They take the sticker down and continue with the work. They are still there every weekend. On holidays, 50 to 70 people are chanting, singing in there.”
“This is not about any one religion. No matter what type of worship was going on it doesn’t matter. It is zoned as a residence,” she added.
The Smiths have noted that during weekends, an abundance of cars continue to be parked on the streets near that home. By Sunday, those cars are gone until the next weekend.
During recent meetings resident Sheldon Hofstein has come before the governing body informing them of code violations and asking questions about what is being done to address them.
Recently, Hofstein said a house on South County Line Road was being used for the same purpose as the one that the Smiths have complained about and that it was in violation of township code.
According to a court document, attorney Sieglinde K. Rath of Storzer & Associates, will appear as counsel on behalf of defendant Moshe Dovid Perlstein concerning one case of an alleged prayer house use that the township has filed an injunction request on.
Hofstein asked if the township might be hesitant concerning code enforcement based on litigation that the township, planning and zoning board of adjustment is currently facing. Township officials have denied this and that steps were being taken concerning code enforcement measures.
Injunction By Federal Judge
One such legal action concerns U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp’s preliminary injunction against two Jackson ordinances that he said were discriminatory against the township’s Orthodox Jewish population. Judge Shipp issued a preliminary decision regarding the case of Agudath Israel of America and WR Property, LLC, versus Jackson Township.
The preliminary injunction involves Jackson ordinances restricting dormitories and eruvs. One ordinance amended use of dormitories and schools in various zones within the township while the second amended an existing ordinance which stated that “no person shall encumber or obstruct any street or public place with any article or thing whatsoever.”
These ordinances are opposed by Agudath Israel of America, an organization that advocates for the interests of the Orthodox Jewish community. Jackson has seen an increase to its Orthodox Jewish population in recent years.
In 2014, developer WR Property, LLC, bought five acres of property in the township intending to develop or market for development a religious Orthodox Jewish school.
Those two ordinances were adopted in 2017 and the town was sued for it. Agudath Israel of America said it was discriminating against Orthodox Jews. Township officials said the ordinances focused on dormitories as they had not been addressed in municipal code previously.
Agudath Israel of America maintains that the ordinance was enacted to stop schools being built for Orthodox Jewish students in Jackson and claims the ban is in violation of federal law. The organization added to its complaint following a council action that same year which Orthodox Jews said would halt the establishment of an eruv.
More than 100 members of the Orthodox Jewish population of Jackson came out to a meeting of the governing body to object to the ordinance pertaining to eruv. They explained at the time that an eruv is an area enclosed by a wire boundary that symbolically enlarges the private domain of Jewish households into public areas, allowing activities within the eruv that are normally prohibited in public on the Sabbath which runs Friday night until sundown on Saturday.
Shipp wrote concerning his decision that “there is no dispute that the ordinances are not facially discriminatory. But ‘facial neutrality is not determinative.’ “After review, the Court finds that plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence in support of their argument that the ordinances were passed with a discriminatory purpose.”
This means the municipality is unable to enforce the two ordinances until a final decision of the issue is rendered. All procedures concerning applications for construction of schools and an eruv are in effect prior to the passage of the 2017 ordinances, according to the judge’s ruling.
