US town to build mosque after federal intervention

A town in New Jersey, United States has settled an anti-discrimination suit with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), ending a years-long controversy over its refusal to grant a zoning permit for a local mosque. The DOJ brought a case alleging that the Bernards Township Planning Board discriminated against the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge […]

A town in New Jersey, United States has settled an anti-discrimination suit with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), ending a years-long controversy over its refusal to grant a zoning permit for a local mosque.

The DOJ brought a case alleging that the Bernards Township Planning Board discriminated against the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (ISBR) and violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) during a lengthy application process that ultimately resulted in the town’s denial of the proposed project.

The planning board voted to settle the suit and issue the requisite permits during a Tuesday night session. 

The DOJ alleged that the town contrived capricious zoning requirements to block the mosque’s construction for over five years. 

The township applied fire safety standards to the project that far exceeded those established for similar ventures, changed the number of required parking spots to an arbitrary figure (hindering the mosque’s ability to comply with local lighting and drainage standards), and amended parliamentary rules governing planning board hearings so that supporters of the mosque were granted prohibitively less time to speak in favour of their project. (dailycaller.com)