No Settlement Made In Basking Ridge Islamic Mosque Lawsuit

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Bernards Township officials were not able to come to a settlement Wednesday night regarding the pending lawsuits with the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and United States Department of Justice over the town's rejection of an application back in September 2012 to build a 4,250-square-foot Islamic mosque on Church Street, a historic section of the township.

Bernards Township Committee and the Bernards Township Planning Board held a joint meeting on May 10 for about 90 minutes behind closed doors before making the announcement of no settlement. The committee declined to comment further on the situation during the meeting.

However, a statement released to the press from township officials, talks further about the ongoing litigation.

"The Township Committee of the Township of Bernards and the Township Planning Board today took no action regarding litigation brought by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (ISBR) and subsequent litigation brought by the US Department of Justice (USDOJ).

"As elected leaders, our goal is to promote the quiet and peaceful use of property for all members of our community. Settlement, in our opinion and that of our legal counsel, represents the most effective path forward to mitigate the financial risk of protracted litigation as well as resolve the issue of the ISBR's proposed Islamic Cultural Center and Mosque in Liberty Corner.

"Since the matter is not completely resolved, we must withhold any further comment."

The lawsuit by the The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge was filed in March after the Bernards Township Planning Board voted down the application to build an Islamic mosque on Church Street.

Since the ISBR's suit, the United States Justice Department also filed a lawsuit in November 2016 against Bernards Township alleging discrimination after the township's Planning Board decision.

Although township officials did not comment further at the meeting, they did open the floor to the public. A packed town hall room full of residents took to the podium to voice their opinion on the situation over the next two hours.

Many who were in favor of the township's initial decision to reject the mosque proposal repeated their opinions. They noted that the mosque proposal was not a good idea because of its location and not discrimination.

Residents also repeated their concerns over traffic in the Liberty Corner area.

No further meetings have been announced to discuss the ongoing litigation at this time.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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