Members of the Jackson Township Zoning Board on Wednesday night denied an application to build the 400-student Oros Bais Yaakov private high school for Orthodox girls, the Ocean County Signal reported.
The unanimous decision dealt a blow to the applicant’s attorney Ray Shea and a victory to the “Jackson Citizens Defense Fund”, a group of residents who came together to oppose the development of the non-conforming application.
Hours of testimony by a legal and professional team assembled by Rabbi Ephraim Birnbaum, the applicant fell short of convincing residents and the board that the school’s beneficial impact outweighed the negatives to the surrounding community. [TLS – Courtesy of OCS]
Actually, it seems that the Jackson Citizens Fund just wasted their time and money as the Board didn’t need much convincing. But expansion into Jackson is happening, it is just a matter of time. The fear, slurs, accusations, and rumors were disconcerting for 21st Century America, but ultimately irrelevant. Demonizing those who are different has been going on forever, and unlikely to end in our time, especially in populations that are not well educated.
Everyone just try (hard) to believe them that it is not because they love Jews, it’s because other reasons. But really the live Jews, even more than non Jews.
Alot of wasted time & money on both sides. As a parent in the school, I went to some of the hearings. I believe that some ppl had legit concerns w/ the zoning part of the school and the traffic on Cross St. However, approx 1,000 ppl showed up. That was NOT out of zoning & traffic concerns; that was out of dislike. At the last 2 meetings at the school, I was actually happy to see cops, so great was the animosity & tension in the air.
Maspik kvar I have only one thing to respond to you:
Go to the article in the Asbury Park Press about this and read the comments. The hate would make Himmler blush !!
I really do not know what you want from them. This is the way they see Lakewood Yidden acting when it comes to building a Shul in their neighborhood that they do not daven in.
Welcome to golus
They will appeal in court and win
I see my phone made some spell checks.
Everyone just try (hard) to believe them that it is not because they love Jews, it’s because other reasons. But really the love Jews, even more than non Jews.
How horrible it is to see that bigotry and narrowmindedness are still alive and thriving in 21st century America. So much for the age of political correctness.
To the people of Jackson: We’re not dumb and we’ve been on the receiving end of people’s hatred enough times to know anti-Semitism when we see it, no matter how much sugar you coated it with. You may have won this skirmish, but you’ve lost our respect. Shame on you.
Wishing much hatzlachah to Oros moving forward.
Just to clarify what I think the commentors here are saying: Not wanting a school in your backyard/ traffic on Cross St. etc. is NOT anti-semitism, and we are not referring to that here. The sentiments expressed by so many residents and their sympathizers were so, so troubling, and as Bubby to be says, “no matter how much sugar you coat it with” the true feelings shone through.
But of course, it’s not hatred or bigotry, because it’s true! They really are that bad! Like some have said, this was a great reminder that we are in golus and let us remember moving forward to always act with mentchlichkeit and how Hashem wants us to, so that when the hate inevitably rears its ugly head, it should have absolutely no basis in reality.
What part of “non-conforming” use is not being understood? At the end of the day, this is a non permitted use in a residential area. Jackson does not want a school in every neighborhood, like Lakewood, nor do they want the congestion and traffic it brings. Cry anti-Semitism as much as you’d like, the facts and detriment to the area outweighed any potential “beneficial impact”. If this was a Catholic boys school being built in a neighborhood that had mostly Toms River students, the same concerns would have been voiced. The right decision was made to deny the variance. Have the school and Rabbi find another parcel somewhere in Jackson that is in a permitted zone and build the school there.
To be honest if I lived in Jackson I would also not want it there. Our town has been over developed in such a way that it is not a pleasant town from a traffic and many other standpoints. Some of the Jackson residents think that letting the school in is the first step towards over development and crowding. Can’t say I blame them. I do acknowledge that some were driven by other feelings, i.e., eisav soney es yaakov.
Instead of looking at the reasons the school was turned down–it is easy to pull the race card. this applicant needed several variance to be built– zoning variance, height variance, parking variance. The school was not going to be accredited by the state of NJ–no lab sciences would be taught, no foreign languages–if people had attended all the meetings most people would see that this project was not a good fit for the area the–there would be no room for any expansion of the school. the zoning board followed Jackson Zoning laws and master plan and voted in accordance with those laws–the paper gives a summation of what happened at the meetings and not the full story.
I am from Jackson and I can tell you it has NOTHING to do with your religion, creed etc. We would welcome your children into our existing schools, if you would allow your kids to be around our non Orthodox children. It is what we have seen change in Lakewood over the years since the Orthodox have taken over the town. It is no longer a quiet, suburban town as it once was, but an overcrowded, overpopulated CITY with tons of traffic. We moved to Jackson for country living, open space and great schools for our kids. We DO NOT WANT overcrowding, which is exactly what will happen if large private schools start being built in our community. We are hardworking, middle class people who value our homes and our way of lives, in the quiet, uncrowded town. BTW, most of us are educated and hardworking. It is not your religion that we don’t like, its the traffic, crowds, drain on the Board of Education by having to pay for SO MANY private school bussing…try to think above RACISM, which it is not and try to understand the environment we love here in Jackson…QUIET COUNTRY LIVING.
We pulled that busing protest (yes that is what it was) last week and we expected this to pass? Talk about concerns, if i was a Jackson resident the traffic alone should have killed this idea.
COMMENT REMOVED.
Easy to say that we are pulling the race card, I have a few good friends who have gone to a few off the meetings and relate to me many things said behind closed doors which were nothing short of blatant anti-Semitism.
We survived bigger and stronger enemies, we can survive you as well, but don’t forget by putting the cards on the table you ppl picked the fight.
Same goes to another local township, I have a friend on the board who had given me recordings of meetings, it’s all anti Jewish and how can we stop lakewood from expanding into our town. I may reveal these recordings if need be.
this is old news as far as I heard the school in question already bought a different building and its half way through construction of the private girls school they did not need the board to vote on anything
Again, to all the Jacksonites commenting.The decision was not anti-Semitic; I think many of us wish the Lakewood boards would have turned down many a proposal before it was too late. The anti-Semitism we refer to was blatantly felt by anyone involved in this saga in any way and was brought to the fore because of this situation. We are not G-d forbid accusing you of anti-semitism for not wanting a school or traffic, but go back to all of the comments on various sites and what spectators said during the meetings, and come back here and tell me that no one feels any hatred or revulsion toward the Lakewood community.
That’s the reality and there’s no denying it.
Though Maspik kvar – threatening that we are going to take over your town with our growing population and family size, way to make a kiddush Hashem
which part dont people understand? the yeshiva wanted a variance. A change of zoning. Why should Jackson be required to do it without substantial need?
Yes, there is a necessity for another yeshiva building, but it is on a “busy” street that is starting to build up traffic, and on a lot in a residential area.
If Oros would buy a lot like the Public School in Jackson, and be on a 20 acre lot, they probably would get the variance,
To put it in perspective. Imagine if a Mexican organization in lakewood bought a peice of property of 6th street, and are planning on building a school there. I guarantee you everyone would be there to protest.
No it is not anti-antisemitism or anti-mexican.
It is just with people of your own ethnicity, you will have more patience and deal more with it.
An ohh, try building a school on 14th street, and see if everyone goes up in arms. They would. and they have a right to.
This is not about anti-Semitism. You people are over-reacting. It’s just about wanting our culture and neighborhoods to remain homogeneous. This is the it way it always has been in America. Chinese people live with the Chinese, Italians with the Italians, and so forth.
It has nothing to do with who YOU are, it’s just that we want to be with our own kind.
When you are accepting of others they will be accepting of you.
We do not need any more schools built in Jackson. This offers nothing to the people of Jackson except a caos of traffic. If this got approved it would be the beginning of the end. The land is cheap. More schools would come. We have to set a strict precedence and stop it before it get started!!!
We moved to Jackson years ago because of the rural community. Keep it clear, traffic free and stay in your own towns! If you’ve over built and bankrupted then fix your problem before causing more in another town.
to maspik kvar:
Maspik kvar!
Stop embarrassing us all.
I agree with the board. It’s a quality of life concern.
We in lakewood think it’s normal to build a school on any open space and look where it got us. Traffic, congestion and inadeqte roadways. Its wrong. Our board approves any permit that comes their way.
I happen to think Jackson people are very courtious and aren’t prejudiced.
Having said that, I wish Oros much hatzlocha in finding a new place to build their school.
The neighbors did not want the school in their backyard and there was a VARIANCE requested. All of us from Lakewood have lost touch with the meaning of a VARIANCE. In Lakewood VARIANCE = bargaining chip. A developer asks for 50 variances and the board knocks back 25 of them. The Board walks away feeling like they did their job by “Reining in” development, the Developer walks away with the 25 variances he really needed , and the neighbors walk with a blight on their neighborhood and wondering what the point of a variance is if it’s granted over the objections of the neighborhood.
In fact, a VARIANCE is a way of saying that they were requesting approval for something that is NOT ALLOWED and want a “Special Treatment”.
Without wading into the discussion of whether there was a sentiment present at the meeting that fell outside of the technical consideration of the application…The board made the right decision!!! If the neighborhood does not want something that does not that does not conform 100% to zoning requirements it should not be approved. That is what zoning is all about, to protect the characteristics of neighborhoods. I would hope that the board members of our zoning and planning board would have done the same.
Who are the Lakewood interests that did not want to see this school built? The Lakewood Planning Board issued its comments on the Master Plan right before a jackson hearing and gave them a roadmap for rejection. The traffic experiment was conducted right before a jackson hearing. There was no support for the applicant at any of the Jackson hearings. So I ask the question. Who in Lakewood wanted to see this application fail?
Maspik Kvar — shame on you.
Kollel wife seems that you are from the only people that was following the story from the beginning to the end, I do agree that the board did not have a requirement to issue the variance, but on the other hand let’s get fooled by them for one second that this was not done for anti-Semitic reasons.
Just go back to some of the sites and look at the comments that were written over there, just go look at the sites that have the videos posted of many of these hearings and hear what these people are saying see how they are acting.
I did not by any means mean to attack anyone in Jackson that does not want this there for simple reasons of not wanting a school in the area, but I will not be fooled for one second that anti-Semitism was not the reason here. Maybe a small few had that in mind but not more.
Maspik – you are referencing comments in online forums for being anti-Semetic when the comments you made above were just as offensive; even turning off members of your own community. Hypocritical, to say the least. I think the court took the facts into consideration when making their decision. They decided that the current zoning laws do not permit a 400 pupil school in a residential area. They used traffic, septic, curriculum, and other factors into consideration…I highly doubt any of them made their decision based on the comment section of a news article.
Maspik- the commenters on other websites do not reflect the way Jackson residents feel. A majority of those posts are written from people who do not live in either Lakewood or Jackson. Jerseygirl & Jackson proud said it best.
it’s not the religion that people have an issue with. it’s the way of life. I think most could care less if someone worshipped Barney.
we didn’t move into your community because we don’t agree with or don’t want to live the way you do, don’t force your way of life onto our community. we didn’t ask you to change, don’t ask us.
I was at all the meetings–there is prejudice through out the world and hopefully there are enough people who are not prejudice to out weigh those who are. these people exist in every community and all the rest of us can do is try to prevail over such thinking. I am sure there are people in the Jewish community that make remarks that offend a lot of the other members of the community–the Zoning laws are put in place for a reason–the board followed the zoning ordinances and voted to uphold them.
My interpretation of ” anti-semitism”
are the hate crimes you hear on the news and the actions done by the Nazis during World war II. I do not feel that the Jackson Board rejecting a school in a residental zone should be consider “anti semetic”
Again I think that a board is chosen to make the decisions, they have the right to vote as they please, and if the acted upon their gut to uphold the laws great.
There is another issue of hate, don’t call it antisemitisim call it Jew haters if u like that term better, many that didn’t want this school was not because it would affect them or anyone else, only because they hate Jews , it’s ok we have been on the receiving end of hate for long enough we can handle this as well.
I work with many ppl from Jackson many are very nice but I have met quite a couple of hateful ppl.
One point which nobody mentioned.
The Jackson people don’t realize is that when you bring Gds children to your town , traffic and all
It brings blessings , prosperity and morality
Also it would be nice
If even they didn’t want us they could do it with love
Mark I agree to you.
It can be fine with love care and concern. Not hate.
Mark – if you want to bring schools to Jackson, you should do it legally. “Do it with love”? Were the board members or witnesses mean? I didn’t think so. Sure, some citizens were very passionate. You realize a home is the single most important investment most people have? You realize many people have seen Lakewood go bankrupt, urbanize, and become a burden to the state and local governments? As a proud Jackson citizen, I certainly don’t want that. Of a more suitable piece of property is found in Jackson, I will gladly support the move.
to # 21
not in lakewood
Lakewood property keeps going up so all that say they propertys will go down and lose there only invesment is 100 off the mark if jews move in it will only skyrocket