TR Residents seek Zoning Change for Houses of worship

A resident of Toms River is asking the town to repeal a zoning requirement that 10 acres is needed to build a house of worship.
APP reports  North Dover resident Scott Gartner, an Orthodox Jew whose efforts to bring a new synagogue to town have been stymied by the zoning restrictions. "Our community is growing. We want to do it the right way. The government is forcing us to do it the wrong way."  The Paper reports Gartner said he and other members of the Orthodox Jewish community believe the zoning change was aimed at preventing the construction of Orthodox Jewish shuls .

He said any lawsuit would argue the restrictive zoning violates the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. He said he and his Orthodox Jewish neighbors are being forced to gather to pray in private homes. Gartner said that a shul, which would be built with "normal zoning of two to five acres for a 5,000-square-foot building," could serve 100 to 200 Orthodox Jewish families and would allow families who live within one to two miles to walk to the building on the Sabbath.


He and other Orthodox Jewish neighbors have retained an attorney, and have a "war chest of $500,000 in community funds," that will be used to file a federal lawsuit challenging the zoning, if necessary,  Township Council members have expressed a willingness to meet with Gartner and other members of the North Dover community to discuss the 10-acre limit, but there appears to be little interest in revising the zoning restrictions.

"As the first Orthodox Jewish resident on his block of expansive homes, Gartner said he's met all his neighbors and become friendly with them, handing out chocolates at Christmastime, and fixing up his property with tens of thousands of dollars of landscaping."

He said he and other Orthodox Jews who have moved to Toms River have conducted community outreach, meeting with politicians, local religious leaders, police and first aid volunteers. They've raised money for police vests and brought officers turkey lunches on Thanksgiving. 

Toms River's Orthodox Jewish residents have been a boon to the local economy, he said, spending money on contracting, lawn care, pool care and home repairs, as they fix up their properties. 

"People moving to Toms River do not want what happened in Lakewood to happen here," Gartner added, noting he does not like the traffic or congestion in Lakewood's rapidly growing neighborhoods.
Read more at APP