The town of Ramapo is seeking back property taxes from the Congregation Rabbinical College of Tartikov after rejecting the college’s bid to declare the Pomona site tax exempt. The college, in turn, intends to file a lawsuit against the town in state Supreme Court this week, said Joel Scheinert, a Nanuet attorney representing Tartikov in its tax case.
Ramapo’s Board of Assessment Review granted Assessor Scott Shedler’s petition to seek taxes retroactive to one year, Town Attorney Michael Klein said. The sum is about $78,000, Shedler said, and does not include taxes due the village of Pomona. That figure was unavailable, but is likely to be small because major services, such as police and road maintenance, are covered by town taxes.
(The Journal News)
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20 Responses
Something tells me that this is going to turn into the longest running Chilul Hashem of all time. Tell Tartikov to pack their bags and get out of a town where they are not wanted. And please dont start yelling “Anti Semites” all at once. They are breaking the zoning laws in a village that only has single family houses.
Ephraim, why don’t you pack your bags and move out of Tartikovs way if you don’t like it.
Tartikov is staying put, whether you like it or not.
i totally agree! the whole face of monsey will change.
Joseph: Why do you ignore Ephraim’s points?
Shevach, Because my Rebbe taught me not to believe loshon hora.
joseph, with all due and respect, breaking zoning laws falls under “USHMARTEM ES NAFSHOSEICHEM” not lashon hora ! and ephraim might be a bit harsh, but “hilchasa dimedina, hilchasa”.
Why is it Lashon Horah to say that someone is breaking zoning laws if they get permission before they do it?
The fact that they are “breaking” zoning laws(or wish for permission to do so) is merely the reason that the village doesn’t wish for them to be around.
The village most probably wishes to have a small neighborhood (which they have) which has lots of green space. Bringing in enough people to double the population(and probably not pay taxes-because the property will be owned by the tax exempt congregation), and then to stuff it all in one small parcel of land might not be the type of precedent they wish to make
4greatkds;
who do you agree with?
It is loshon hora to even believe the accusation leveled here by some anonymous individuals that they are even breaking any zoning laws. That is the loshon hora here.
To anyone who doubts the legality of this, I suggest you research the RLUIPA law, as passed by Congress, and which takes precedence over any local zoning laws.
Joseph, Let Tartikov stay put where they are now. Where are they anyways? It also seems like you are giving more credance to what the Village of Pomona is saying? Do you think they will need my piece of property also? I’ve been here alot longer than you, and I dont even know who you are. (Early 70’s) They are suing the village for harassment and discrimination and they have not even given in a plan? All the village did was to say, we have zoning laws. Why is it so dificult for these people to understand what these laws are all about. These laws wer in place before there was even a hava mina of these people moving up here and yet they are discriminating against Chasidim.
by the way, dina demalchusa dina only applies when jews are teated equally as others (other people, other religions, ???)
would the town oppose a church / seminary equally???
maybe. if its just as big.
maybe. if it eats up the town’s revenue.
maybe. if it creates / doesnt create additional taxable revenue.
maybe. if its the right other religion (x – tianity. yes. moonies, buddhists, mormons, no) (and how does this intereact with the above rule of it is treats others equally??? a good shay’lah)
Again folks, before condemning anyone for “illegally violating local zoning laws”, read up on RLUIPA. It is a fedral law that applies to religious organizations, and takes precedence over any and all local zoning ordinances.
hey Joseph, are you a local monsey homeowner. Don’t you realize what is happening here? Multi- family homes containing many many chassidishe families are sprouting up all over Monsey as fast as the speed of lightning. I wonder if you wake up in the morning and see herds of chassidim using your backyard as a shortcut, wrecking your freshly cut lawn. It would really be nice if we can get our neighborhoods back to the way it was. nice and quiet.
Joseph, you seem like the type of person who just keeps on crying and screaming even when you know your wrong. It kind of reminds
me of my 4 year old daughter. They know they are wrong because they did not even file any plans and chose to go directly to the law suit.
A couple of points, Ephraim. Firstly, the fact that the zoning laws existed before the arrival of the chasidim is relevant, but far from dispositive. A court will also look to see how the law is being applied. Were it otherwise, a politician with nefarious intentions could scour lawbooks in an effort to uncover some long-forgotten statute and use it for newly-discriminatory purposes. Secondly, a failure to file plans and instead proceed directly to litigation could just as easily be proof of their recognition of the unconstitutionality of the zoning ordinances.
Since you seem to fail to grasp the meaning of RLUIPA statue, as passed by the United States Congress, here is the opening text of the law:
No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution…
mark37, Your language regarding hasidim calling them “herds of chassidim” wrecking your lawn and hoping to get rid of them, is the language I would expect from Hitler.
The village of Pomona doesn’t have clean hands with respect to the parcel, just look at the shabby way they treated the Yeshiva of Spring Valley, which tried to comply with zoning laws (and for whom zoning laws were changed to specifically prevent them from developing the property in the manner in which they desired.
That said, Joseph, the language you quote from RLUIPA is very unconvincing. The question is what is a “substantial burden on the exercise….”. Do these words mean that no zoning laws apply to religious institutions? I doubt it.
papper, just look at the case history of RLUIPA cases that have gone to court. In substantially all of them the religious organization has won. Its pretty clear that the burden of proof is high in this regard on any municipality.
Joseph,
Even assuming that the Federal law would allow Tartikov to force the local community to comply with their plans, it doesn’t address the question of “Should they”. Not always should one do that which they are allowed to. We even have a concept of Menuval B’rshus Hatorah (which philosophically is a very hard concept to grasp!).
I have witnessed instances of Eiva (hatred) caused by jewish people doing that which was legal.
We sometimes ask and demand that non-jews desist from doing that which they are allowed under law to do. For example, we ask that they remove advertising from our communities that we find offensive.
Now regarding the issue at hand, I am not going to take a side. I am not familiar enough with the area, or its history to be able to proffer an opinion. All I am suggesting is that the fact that Tartikov can legally do something doesn’t mean that it is necessarily appropriate to do it. If the zoning existed, and the town is trying to enforce it, it is obvious that the town does not want them there. Now of course, as Americans we are free to go where we want, but why choose to go where we know they don’t want us. And why go in a manner that causes Eivah. The South Fallsberg Yeshiva community took pains to put up signs specifying that they were a tax paying community. The Waterbury yeshiva community was INVITED by the local officials to develop in their city (not to say that there still hasn’t been friction.) Chazal instituted halachos about Eivah, but it seems that this generation doesn’t think we have to be concerned with it because its America. I worry that they are wrong.
GOM
GOM: I was addressing the false allegations (and clear loshon hora) made by some here that Tartikov was breaking the law. It was an outrageous and false charge. I do not necessarily believe that Tratiko should (or should not) build where they want to.