Friday, July 27, 2018
Members of Hasidic community start vacating home in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts
Members of a Hasidic Jewish community have vacated a home in the Laurentians that was being used as a house of worship, according to the local mayor.
They had until 5 p.m. Thursday to vacate the building under an agreement reached between the city and community leaders, said Denis Chalifoux, the mayor of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, about 100 kilometres north of Montreal.
That deal came after the Quebec Superior Court ordered them to leave the home earlier this month, following years of complaints from local residents and the town about excessive noise and frequent comings and goings at the house.
Chalifoux said most of the young men staying at the house over the summer were out by Thursday afternoon.
He told Radio-Canada the city planned to tour the building, which is on Des Bouleaux Street, on Friday to make sure it has been completely vacated.
Longstanding complaints
The city had asked the residents of the building to respect local zoning regulations and stop using the house for multiple purposes as early as 2015.
It said the building was being used as a religious school, a place of worship, and a dormitory for about 30 young people from Quebec, Ontario, the U.S. and elsewhere.
Alex Werzberger, a member of the Hasidic community in Montreal whose grandson works in the town, says the homes were being used as a private, all-boys school for the summer.
He says the boys might have been a little rambunctious but he doesn't believe they made enough noise to warrant an expulsion order.
Still, Chalifoux said the community was using the house "for purposes that aren't permitted under the regulations."
"They're creating problems," he said.
The Hasidic community leaders refused Radio-Canada's request for comment on the court decision earlier this month.
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