Wednesday, May 08, 2024
Town fires back at state's claim of biased zoning regs targeting Jews
The leaders of a Sullivan County town say the state attorney general's office recently erred when it accused them of adopting zoning regulations last year that allegedly discriminate against "places of worship" and appear to have been designed to block a large development project proposed by Hasidic Orthodox Jews.
Jafid Afzali, an attorney representing the town of Forestburgh, wrote a letter Monday to the attorney general's office disputing that town officials had crafted new zoning regulations to target the developers of the 2,600-unit project, which involves companies and individuals with Hasidic Orthodox Jewish principals. The owners purchased the property and its development rights four years ago from another developer who had received approvals from the town for a planned development district.
Afzali wrote that "there is no 'wholesale exclusion' of religious uses from any district as your letter claims."
"In fact, out of the 15 other towns located in Sullivan County, Forestburgh is one of two towns that allow religious uses in every zoning district, whereas there are five other towns in the county that allow religious uses in less than half of their zoning districts," his letter continued. "Moreover, as the town zoning code defines place of worship broadly to encompass all religious faiths, it is unclear on what basis your referenced 'report' focuses on the effects of Local Law 3 on the Jewish community only."
Town officials and their attorneys also dispute the attorney general's assertion that they may have violated the state Open Meetings Law in the proceedings leading up to the adoption of the new zoning regulations last November.
In a statement accompanying the letter that was released by the town Tuesday, they also alleged the developers of the project, known as Lost Lake Resort, had filed the report with the attorney general's office that spurred the agency's intervention.
"This new owner has been seeking to develop this district in a way that is inconsistent with the approvals that were granted to the prior owner of the property over 10 years ago, after going through an approval process to amend our zoning code that took (five) years of work, input from multiple state and federal agencies, environmental experts and public comment and review," the town said in the statement that was issued by Supervisor Dan Hogue Jr. "Rather than seeking permission to amend the zoning code and requirements for this district, this new developer has sued Forestburgh in (six) separate lawsuits and (six) appeals, which we have defended and to date, have prevailed in."
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