Congregation Beth Eliyahu plans to sue the Town of North Hempstead under a federal religious freedom statute, following the town zoning board’s denial of the temple’s proposal to build a religious school on Middle Neck Road.
“There was no rational basis not to permit the building of the religious school,” Congregation Beth Eliyahu’s attorney Steven Schlesinger said in an interview. “Clearly they violated the federal statute, and we intend to sue them in federal court where they will be getting regular damages, punitive damages and our attorney’s fees. I’m looking forward to the lawsuit.”
Town of North Hempstead spokesman Collin Nash said he could not comment on potential litigation. Schlesinger has not yet filed the suit, and said he plans to do so in December or January.
The Town of North Hempstead board of zoning appeals rejected the orthodox Sephardic temple’s proposal to open a religious school earlier this month, ruling that planned bus service would cause safety hazards and alter the character of adjacent Allenwood Road.
“It is unlikely the neighborhood will be able to absorb, without severe disruption, the impacts associated with the introduction of stopped buses and cars,” wrote the board in its decision, adding that the traffic would impede emergency services from accessing Allenwood Road, Day Court and Middle Neck Road.
The congregation’s proposal drew opposition from several villages, the Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company and the Allenwood Park Civic Association after the zoning board first held a hearing on the plan in August 2012. The villages of Great Neck, Kensington Lake Success and Great Neck Estates penned letters decrying the plan and co-funded a traffic study with the Allenwood Civic Association.
Schlesinger said he plans to sue under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits governments from restricting the land use of religious institutions unless the limitations further a compelling government interest in the least restrictive way possible.
Schlesinger said the zoning board’s decision was not rational, and said the temple had offered to use staggered schedules and mini buses and that a traffic study had showed no major delays.
“It was nonsense. Where is the big traffic?” Schlesinger said.
The zoning board took a less rosy view of the school’s impact in its long-awaited decision, taking the proposal to task for perceived risks to safety and quality of life on Allenwood Road.
The congregation planned on installing a school bus drop-off zone about 20 feet from the intersection of Allenwood Road and Day Court, with Allenwood Road serving as the only entrance and exit route for buses and cars carrying students, according to the ruling.
Such a setup could cause blockages and safety hazards at the intersection, the zoning board ruled.
Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth and Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Anna Kaplan joined the opposition to the plan in December, voicing concerns on how the project would affect safety and quality of life on one of Great Neck’s busiest thoroughfares.
Schlesinger accused the zoning board of caving to pressure from the Allenwood Civic Association and nearby villages, which he alleged opposed the project on discriminatory grounds.
“They caved to pressure,” Schlesinger said.
Allenwood Civic Association vice president Laura Cohen said in October 2012 that her group was motivated by safety concerns.
“Our opposition to building a school for 350 student is based solely on the safety of the children that would attend the school and the people who live in the neighborhood,” Cohen said.
