Rabbi Moshe Gourarie and the Chabad Jewish Center of Toms River Inc. (the “Center”) have sued the Township of Toms River, New Jersey, and the Township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (“ZBA”) in the Federal District Court of New Jersey.  The Center’s complaint is available here.

Rabbi Gourarie has run the Center from his home and garage on eight acres within the Township’s Conservation Residential Zone since 2011 (the “Property”). Prior to 2011, he operated the Center from a home he rented in another part of the Township. According to the complaint, the Property is bordered on three sides by non-residential uses.  The Property is in a zone, however, that does not allow houses of worship by right or as a conditional use. In the complaint, the Center contends that under New Jersey law, a clergy residence or parsonage must be allowed in any zoning district, and that the Township cannot legally prevent small religious gatherings within a private residence.

According to the Center, the Property is primarily used as a residence, but is also used for small religious gatherings on Saturdays with between 10 to 15 people.  The Property is also used to host occasional gatherings with an average of 12 people, various classes on topics within Judaism that attract an average of 10 people, and Hebrew school classes for five children.  In December, 2015 the ZBA ruled that the Center had to obtain a use variance to continue operating from the Property. The Center’s ZBA application was filed after the Township cited Gourarie for eight zoning violations in 2014, including establishing a use not permitted and failure to obtain a development permit.

The complaint alleges significant anti-Semitic hostility in Toms River, including vandalism at a local playground where “burn the Jews” was etched on a piece of equipment.  The complaint also cites pages of comments made by Township residents on media websites and Facebook as evidence of hostility towards Jewish individuals.

The complaint states that some residents have placed lawn signs on their properties reading: “Don’t Sell! Toms River Strong.” Residents in the North Dover section of Toms River claim that they have been the subject of high-pressure tactics by real estate agents seeking to buy property on behalf of Orthodox Jewish clients. The complaint alleges that the signs are part of a campaign to keep Ultra-Orthodox Jews out of Toms River.  A neighboring town, Lakewood, has a large population of  Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the Center claims that the Township has taken several discriminatory actions to keep the same population out of Toms River, including an ordinance limiting real estate canvassing.

The ZBA divided a review of the Center’s application into two phases: (1) to determine whether a variance is required; and (2) if a variance is required, whether it should be granted.  After a public hearing, the ZBA concluded that the Center was a “House of Worship” because the Property was being utilized “for more than a casual prayer group.” The Center claims that the determination of use is a final determination under New Jersey law, making its claims ripe for judicial review. The Center also claims that it cannot afford to apply for a use variance.  It therefore filed its lawsuit, claiming four counts in violation of RLUIPA (substantial burden, equal terms, nondiscrimination, and exclusion and limits), violation of the Federal Fair Housing Act, violation of its Constitutional rights to Free Exercise and Equal Protection, as well as violations of New Jersey law and the New Jersey Constitution.

Photo by Andy Clymer, Some rights reserved

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Photo of Evan Seeman Evan Seeman

Evan J. Seeman is a lawyer in Robinson+Cole’s Hartford office and focuses his practice on land use, real estate, environmental, and regulatory matters, representing local governments, developers and advocacy groups. He has spoken and written about RLUIPA, and was a lead author of…

Evan J. Seeman is a lawyer in Robinson+Cole’s Hartford office and focuses his practice on land use, real estate, environmental, and regulatory matters, representing local governments, developers and advocacy groups. He has spoken and written about RLUIPA, and was a lead author of an amicus curiae brief at the petition stage before the United States Supreme Court in a RLUIPA case entitled City of San Leandro v. International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.

Evan serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the APA’s Planning & Law Division. He also serves as the Chair of the Planning & Zoning Section of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section, and is the former Co-Chair of its Municipal Law Section. He has been named to the Connecticut Super Lawyers® list as a Rising Star in the area of Land Use Law for 2013 and 2014. He received his B.A. in political science and Russian studies (with honors) from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was selected as the President’s Fellow in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature. Evan received his Juris Doctor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he served on the Connecticut Law Review. While in law school, he interned with the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General in the environmental department, and served as a judicial intern for the judges of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court. Following law school, Evan clerked for the Honorable F. Herbert Gruendel of the Connecticut Appellate Court.

Photo of Dwight Merriam Dwight Merriam

Dwight H. Merriam founded Robinson+Cole’s Land Use Group in 1978. He represents land owners, developers, governments and individuals in land use matters, with a focus on defending governments in RLUIPA cases. Dwight is a Fellow and Past President of the American Institute of…

Dwight H. Merriam founded Robinson+Cole’s Land Use Group in 1978. He represents land owners, developers, governments and individuals in land use matters, with a focus on defending governments in RLUIPA cases. Dwight is a Fellow and Past President of the American Institute of Certified Planners, a former Director of the American Planning Association (APA), a former chair of APA’s Planning and Law Division, Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of State and Local Government Law, Chair of the Institute of Local Government Studies at the Center for American and International Law, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute National Advisory Board, a Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, a Counselor of Real Estate, a member of the Anglo-American Real Property Institute, and a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

He teaches land use law at the University of Connecticut School of Law and at Vermont Law School and has published over 200 articles and eight books, including Inclusionary Zoning Moves Downtown, The Takings Issue, The Complete Guide to Zoning, and Eminent Domain Use and Abuse: Kelo in Context. He is the senior co-author of the leading casebook on land use law, Planning and Control of Land Development (Eighth Edition). Dwight has written and spoken widely on how to avoid RLUIPA claims and how to successfully defend against them in court. He is currently writing a book on the subject, RLUIPA DEFENSE, for the American Bar Association.

Dwight has been named to the Connecticut Super Lawyers® list in the area of Land Use Law since 2006, is one of the Top 50 Connecticut Super Lawyers in Connecticut, and is one of the Top 100 New England Super Lawyers (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.). He received his B.A. (cum laude) from the University of Massachusetts, his Masters of Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina, where he was the graduation speaker in 2011, and his J.D. from Yale. He is a featured speaker at many land use seminars, and presents monthly audio land use seminars for the International Municipal Lawyers Association. Dwight has been cited in the national press from The New York Times to People magazine and has appeared on NBC’s The Today Show, MSNBC and public television.

Dwight also had a career in the Navy, serving for three tours in Vietnam aboard ship, then returning to be the Senior Advisor of the Naval ROTC Unit at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where he taught Defense Administration and Military Management as an Assistant Professor in the undergraduate and graduate curriculum in Defense Administration and Military Management. He left active duty after seven years to attend law school, but continued on for 24 more years as a reserve Surface Warfare Officer with two major commands, including that of the reserve commanding officer of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. He retired as a Captain in 2009 after 31 years of service.

Photo of John Peloso John Peloso

John Peloso, a partner in the firm’s Real Estate Litigation Group, is a trial lawyer who represents companies, municipalities, and individuals in a wide range of matters. At the administrative, trial, and appellate levels, John counsels clients and litigates real property disputes, including…

John Peloso, a partner in the firm’s Real Estate Litigation Group, is a trial lawyer who represents companies, municipalities, and individuals in a wide range of matters. At the administrative, trial, and appellate levels, John counsels clients and litigates real property disputes, including real estate, land use, environmental, and tax matters, including RLUIPA and eminent domain matters.

In the area of real estate litigation, John represents institutional, municipal, and individual clients in disputes involving title, zoning, wetlands, land use, RLUIPA, eminent domain, and other real property rights. He also represents clients in all aspects of commercial lease and other real estate transactional disputes. In the area of real property tax litigation, he represents institutional and individual clients in proceedings at the regulatory, administrative, and trial levels. In this regard, he has dealt with specialized issues involving among other things, the valuation of high-tech software, wireless communications equipment, contingency fee tax audits, special use properties, and the impact of environmental conditions on the valuation of real property.

Prior to joining Robinson+Cole, John was a member of the litigation department at White & Case LLP in New York City, where he concentrated his practice in complex commercial, property and securities litigation.