Brick Zoning Board Hearing Set For Unauthorized Orthodox School

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Board of Adjustment is scheduled to hold a special hearing on Dec. 20 on an application to turn the former Temple Beth Or synagogue into an Orthodox Jewish school.

In a hearing before Ocean County Superior Court Judge Craig Wellerson on Thursday morning, Ronald Cucchiaro, attorney for the Brick Township Planning Board, and Adam Pfeffer, attorney for Congregation Kehilos Yisroel, confirmed that an application has been submitted to the zoning board, and that an amended application seeking a D3 zoning variance will be submitted.

The unauthorized school at the former synagogue, which was shut down Sept. 15, will remain closed, as Wellerson said his previous orders in the case would continue.

Brick Township filed suit against Congregation Kehilos Yisrael on Aug. 20, seeking an injunction to force it to stop operating the school after weeks of notifications to the congregation that it needed to get permits and approval from the Brick Township Planning Board to convert the former synagogue to a school.

Wellerson said the zoning board must have "a full membership of the board in attendance," with seven voting members, at the Dec. 20 hearing.

The site for that hearing has not yet been announced, but it must be advertised and notices sent to property owners within a 200-foot radius of the property that are received a minimum of 10 days before the Dec. 20 hearing, under New Jersey's land use laws.

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