Temple Beth Or Congregation Seeking New Home

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Board of Adjustment is scheduled to hear a proposal by the Temple Beth Or congregation to turn a former funeral home into its new home.

The zoning board meeting is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Brick Township municipal building, 401 Chambers Bridge Road.

Temple Beth Or sold its former home on Van Zile Road in March 2021 to Congregation Kehilos Yisroel for $3.6 million because the 4.1-acre property was exceeded the needs of the congregation, which has shrunk over the years.

The application is seeking to turn the building at 109 Pier Ave., the former site of Laurelton Funeral Home, into a religious facility, which is a nonconforming use in the zone.

They are proposing 15 parking spaces for the building, and estimates 12 would be required under a formula that requires one parking space for every four seats in the building — Temple Beth Or estimates 48 people maximum would be using the facility at one time. The building would have a multipurpose space, a meeting room, an office for the rabbi, three sanctuaries and restrooms.

The application requests variances for setbacks and lot size.