Foil: Your right to Know.
Release sent out by CUPON this week.
Approximately 2 years ago the Alteres Bais Yaakov Academy of Rockland (ABY) filed a $10 million RLUIPA lawsuit against the Town of Clarkstown, CUPON of Greater Nanuet, and CUPON Inc. claiming they were discriminated against and prevented from purchasing the Grace Baptist Church in Nanuet for use as a private girls school.
The lawsuit contained erroneous information and was rejected based on the facts. ABY could not secure a loan to purchase the property after Grace Baptist Church agreed to postpone the closing several times. ABY claimed that the Clarkstown Building Inspector and Zoning Boards prevented them from meeting the Land Use requirements in a timely fashion, and claimed CUPON of Greater Nanuet interfered in their ability to get a loan from the Rockland Economic Assistance Corporation(REAC) causing them to miss the agreed upon closing date to secure the property. They included CUPON Inc. in the lawsuit because of the inaugural meeting we had with CUPON of Nanuet on January 10, 2019.
The court ruled that ABY did not have a contingency clause in the purchase agreement based on their ability to secure financing, therefore Grace Baptist Church was within its rights to cancel the proposed purchase after several postponements. Since ABY never took ownership of the property, they did not have legal “standing” to challenge the sale of the property to Clarkstown.
This frivolous lawsuit is another example of how the RLUIPA law is being used by some to browbeat municipalities and their residents to succumb to unreasonable land use issues. The court was able to see through this charade and ruled in favor of Clarkstown and CUPON.
CUPON will continue to oppose unfair land use issues in areas where we have an organization. We need your support to ensure everyone’s rights are protected.
CUPON Inc. is an all-volunteer, non-profit, tax-exempt organization. You can learn more and donate here.
