02/14/2008: Another RLUIPA success story for S&G client
So, disagreements over new shuls still do arise and need to be resolved. To that end, last week the zoning board of the Village of Lawrence—after months of analysis, deliberation, and consultation on the matter—consented to allow a new shul, Congregation Heichel Dovid, to shortly begin functioning on a daily basis. The shul had previously been granted permission to operate on Shabbos and yom tov as well as on several additional days on the Jewish calendar.
”A New Shul Story,” Larry Gordon, 5 Towns Jewish Times.
02/08/2008: The Village of Lawrence, New York, granted S&G client Congregation Heichel Dovid a variance for its synagogue over the objections of organized community opposition
As this Firm informed the Village,
The denial of the parking variance, or the limitation of the parking variance only to Sabbath services and Holy Day observance, would violate the Congregation’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the New York Constitution, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (“RLUIPA”), and New York’s civil rights statutes. Such action would expose the Village to years of litigation, potentially millions of dollars in damages and attorneys’ fees, together with a substantial likelihood of eventually allowing the use.