Chestnut Ridge Board Photo: Carucha Meuse/The Journal News
“During a contentious and emotional meeting, the Board of Trustees adopted a three-tier zoning law that allows houses of worships in residential neighborhoods.
The law adopted Thursday night before dozens of people will be challenged in court by CUPON-Chestnut Ridge, an attorney for the grassroots group said Friday.
Steve Mogel said the board ignored basic environmental impacts on residents by essentially allowing unlimited houses of worship and crafting the law to cater to the Orthodox Jewish Coalition, which suggested the zone and has since filed a civil rights lawsuit accusing the village of violating religious rights.
“I think the way they crafted the resolution defined their bias,” Mogel said. “What they did … throughout the whole process is they made it clear that they would pick and choose among the statements made to support their pre-conceived determination to pass the resolution regardless of how bad it might be for the overall community.” [Read more…]