BREAKING – PHOTOS: Jackson Township approves ban on Dormitories; Agudah NJ Director says this is a “Very sad day for Jackson and Religious Liberties”

The Jackson Township moments ago approved the ban on dormitories throughout the Township.

Last month, the Township pulled the proposal from the agenda (https://thelakewoodscoop.com/2017/02/photo-frum-jackson-community-comes-out-to-oppose-townships-dormitory-ban-proposal.html) when a large crowd showed up to oppose the ordinance.

The meeting this evening also attracted a large crowd.

The unanimous approval of the ordinance comes despite the fact that many saw this as a direct target of Orthodox Jews moving into the town, and an effort to further deter the growth of Jewish residents within the township.

The ordinance bans dormitories anywhere in the Township – including residential, commercial and industrial zones.

Agudath Israel of America’s New Jersey Director Rabbi Avi Schnall was extremely unhappy about the vote.

“Tonight’s vote was a severe setback in the relationship between a growing portion of Jackson residents and the town Council,” Rabbi Schnall told TLS. “Over the past few weeks, hundreds of emails were sent to the council members asking to have a conversation, all these requests were ignored. It’s a very sad day for Jackson and for religious liberties.”


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40 COMMENTS

  1. Let the courts slam them! This exactly why the federal RUPLA act was passed.

    Just a shame on the non-anti-Semetic taxpayer who will have to fund a legal ‘defense’ of this outrageous hate.

  2. So according to what was said at the meeting, Lakewood’s over-development problem is all because of dorms. What a simple solution to all Lakewood’s problems. They should have told us sooner. So now we can get rid of dorms and all our problems will go away. Thank you Jackson!

  3. I don’t understand why we are putting so much energy into fighting this… who exactly wants dorms? Yes we’d love to have shuls and eruv someday and that can be done without effecting quality of life for previous residents but if we create this us against them mentality with every little thing, then they will fight every little thing, without even stopping to consider if this is something that will have a detrimental effect on them.

    Yes, it’s upsetting, but sue? take over? why are we even talking like that?

    And aren’t there ways the different communities can work together, like to fight higher density if that comes up, shady investors, etc. There are plenty of things that we have in common, it’s sad that everything has to be a fight, that we are looked at as the ones who are coming to destroy their beloved town when most of us have no such intentions.

  4. Also, even though this is not the biggest deal (yet) it shows that we defend our rights and if something that is a big deal comes up we are not going to roll over, and maybe they will think twice about it. Plus, showing that we have a large voice helps our community in many other ways and makes them take us seriously as part of their constituency.

  5. Interesting: on app there’s a picture of a guy speaking wearing a six flags jacket-the only current “dorm” owners in Jackson (i wasn’t there but it doesn’t look like he was there to speak against the ban)

  6. I hear that Abe and I’m not discounting but I’m wondering if there’s any way to maintain our rights peacefully, without upsetting the people who were there far longer than we were? better communication? And definitely not with threats to sue and take over and etc.

  7. it was clear the town intent and clear the outcome here comes the courts…attorneys are ready..its sad but must be done…they are afraid of us rightfully so but without diologe we must go this way..300 emails and only the mayor abswered where is the council …

    • they were being slammed by thousands of emails from jackson residents as well who dont want the dorms and no they didnt reply back to all of us i mean how can you possibly get threw that many emails to begin with

  8. dear jackson jew…we tried that already we as a community asked the council to have a sence of diologe as r shnall said hundreds off emails were sent and all of my frfeinds tell me that the mayor answered but no one from council did….what do you expecet people to do if their eleccted officials arent willing to talk…

  9. I agree wholeheartedly with “Jackson Jew” and I have no idea why we’re looking for problems regarding DORMS of all things. I for one don’t want any dorms either. I rather live peacefully without the congestion.

  10. You all seem to be centered on only what you want and if you don’t get it, its because the world is anti-Semitic. How about the people that live there and bought their houses for the quiet low density housing.
    On my block that was a quiet street single family houses, I now have 2 businesses that get deliveries with 40ft trailers, I have a school with school buses coming down the street, no buses came down my street before my kids had to walk to the corner. This is what the people that live there don’t want. they are not anti-Semitic they just want to keep their quiet streets.

    • Well said, this has nothing to do with religion but somehow that card is always played. I don’t care who my neighbors are, I just want my neighborhood remains a quiet and peaceful place to live, without the congestion that would ensue. A number of Lakewood folks are moving to Jackson for the same reason.

  11. What would have been reasonable is an ordinance allowing school campuses on a 10 acre minimum. If they want to protect against overdevelopment then rezone all areas to 2 acre lot req.

    • You should do a little research into Land Use Law before making this kind of comment. Making such tedious bulk requirements is the reason why the Mount Laurel decision exists and why we are now stuck with COAH.

      To all those saying they also want no dorms, but that there should be no ordinance against it, you are speaking out of 2 sides of your mouth. I’m sure you do not want a dorm in your neighborhood, but by insisting they not be prohibited in Jackson, you are saying that you eventually want them built. Maybe not next to you, but somewhere.

      This country is run by the voted majority. Those people have spoken in Jackson and want no dorms. That does not infringe on anyone’s right to freedom of religion. I have yet to find any reference to dorms in a religious text. If thousands of schools can exist nationwide without dorms and a large portion of those in Lakewood can survive without dorms, there is no reason to believe that a religious school can’t survive in Jackson without a dorm.

  12. I think we should do a little research into the town Migdal Haemek. Thanks to Rabbi Grossman, the orthodox and the non-orthodox get along very nicely.

  13. Can someone explain what is wrong with not wanting dorms? Do you want a dorm next to your house? Many of the Frum commmnity that moved here over the past 20 years, moved from Brooklyn and are accustomed to a certain quality of life. You must understand that not everyone (like me) is accustomed to that or wants it. Let’s try to be a little understanding and see things from the “other” perspective.

  14. Plenty of lakewood pple have fought dorms on their blocks too. I understand that jackson doesnt want to turn into lakewood. How can pple be upset at them…maybe be upset at the people who let lakewood turn into what it is today.

  15. so you Jackson people moved out of Lakewood because you don’t like traffic and Lakewood life but here you all are doing the same thing to Jackson.
    either stay in lakewood and have all your benefits, which are many, or live in Jackson as everyone else does in Jackson and stop pushing your Lakewood agenda.

  16. Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky did not walk through the streets in his town in N.Y. with a Tallis over his Jacket, unless he put on a coat over the Tallis, in order not to upset the gentiles.

  17. For everyone (rightfully) saying that we don’t want dorms in our backyard-NOBODY is asking for that! This ordinance bans dorms ANYWHERE! (I have to have someone respond to this point, everyone keeps on saying I don’t want to have a dorm in my backyard) and dorms in Lakewood are a cause of over-development, they are not what caused it so saying we don’t want to be like Lakewood (again, rightfully so) has nothing to do with this ordinance.
    Jacksonville Jew and everyone else saying its not a big deal (and I agree it’s not) iy”h in 15 yrs if u have to drive your kid a half hour to school because it’s only allowed in VERY few specific zones please don’t complain.
    And to everyone saying this can’t be anti-religious because there’s no religious requirement for a dorm, discrimination doesn’t have to be part of the religion. If they make an ordinance affecting mainly Jew’s (for example Jew’s can’t build garages) that’s religious discrimination even though religion doesn’t require garages. So if the ordinance affects mainly Jew’s it’s reasonable to assume it’s anti-semitic. I’m not saying it is anti-semitic, just that it’s possible even though it’s not a religious requirement. (and please don’t say that it doesn’t target specifically Jews because we all know that Jew’s are the only ones this is about)

    • It is not fair to say 100% that this is only about Jews. A dormitory in a specific area will cause the noise level to go up a little. Many people today are working hard to make ends meet. If a person’s job starts at 8:45 a.m., and let’s say he has to travel 35 minutes to get to his job, he has to get up pretty early. In order to get up early, you have to go to sleep early. If you have students talking outside at 11 p.m., that can possibly wake up all those light sleepers and the next day at work their job preformance will be less.

  18. It’s not about building dorms in residential blocks, the issue is that dorms were banned entirely from Jackson. The people that moved from Lakewood to Jackson don’t either want dorms or schools near their house or anyone elses house. The Jackson people don’t want Jackson to look like Lakewood, but the ban is too extreme. They could have banned dorms and schools from residential areas and even from commercial properties within the residential areas, only commercial/industrial properties that are not near residential areas can be allowed.
    For the same reasons they should have banned schools all together, because schools without dorms are worse than schools with dorms, schools without dorms means more traffic, the students come and go daily, schools with dorms cause less traffic because the students stay in school. Dorms pose an issue for the neighbors, but not when they are out of residential areas and surrounded by woods (which Jackson is full of).
    Nothing wrong for the Lakewood people in Jackson to appose the ban, and it’s not because they want dorms in residential areas, and nothing wrong with Jackson for bringing up this ban concept but not to the extreme that they did.
    Stop with the stupid extreme comments like why are Lakewood people apposed to the ban when they moved to Jackson not to live in a situation like Lakewood. Also, “Brooklyn people”, people that came from Brooklyn don’t necessarily want density either, not in Lakewood and not in Jackson. And neither are all the bad drivers in Lakewood from Brooklyn. TLS comments can many times be hilarious, first think than write.

  19. I may be naive, but I have always associated a dorm with a college or university. How is this a religious thing? Please help me understand because I am truly confused.

  20. @clear mind, nobody is saying “Brooklyn people” as if there is something wrong with that. What others and I are saying is that people come to this conversation with a certain sociological perspective, we are products of the environments that we come from. People coming from Brooklyn as accustomed to a certain way of life that people from suburban areas are not. Think about it with a “clear mind”.

  21. Jackson doesn’t want dorms. That’s all there is to it. The board speaks for the townspeople and they spoke last night. Get over it.

  22. @torah truth. Just because someone was accustomed to a certain setting, doesn’t mean that’s what they expect or want, there are people that live in suburban areas that wish they can live in the city because suburban life is boring and some people in the city hate it because it’s too busy. Many times the opposite is true people that are accustomed to one become very opposed to it because they experienced it and didn’t like. Those that need the city life stay there, there are people moving to Jackson that grew up in a city and moved to Jackson for a reason…. Think clearly 😉

  23. It is for the benefit of the jewish residents of Jackson to advertise that the residents who don’t appose antisemitic actions by the Township will be held responsible financially and the will be paying that just as in another town in the us where this happened

  24. The federal judges ruled that president trump’s travel ban is unconstitutional because it seems to single out muslims. That same logic applies here.

Comments are closed.