Mike Davis

@byMikeDavis

Jackson has seen a growing Orthodox Jewish population and many expect plans for a yeshiva are only a matter of time.

Orthodox Jews believe an ordinance to ban dormitories is anti-Semitic, while others believe the suburban town can't handle the development.

Yeshivas have also been proposed in Ocean Township and Aberdeen.

JACKSON - Faced with opposition from the township's Orthodox Jewish community, the council has delayed a vote that would prohibit the construction of dormitories in the town.

And while the ordinance won't be considered until at least March 14 — the council must wait for the planning board to weigh in on the issue — some of the town's newest residents used a Tuesday night council meeting to call out the ordinance as anti-Semitic.

MORE: Jackson looks to ban dorms

“I cannot see this as anything else but targeting the Jewish population. Nobody else in Jackson wants a dormitory,” said Vassar Court resident Aryeh Margolis, who moved to the town in August.

Of the nearly 100 people in attendance, three spoke in favor of the ordinance, while six spoke against it. Among the nays, all criticized the council for putting forth a measure they said was rooted in anti-Semitism.

During the meeting, the only comment by a member of the council came from Barry Calogero, who said he was "looking forward" to casting his vote. Unanswered by the five-member panel is why the measure is necessary, or what harm it seeks to address.

LETTER: Proposed dormitory ban may face court test

Calogero declined to reveal how he’d vote, saying he would await the planning board's decision.

“It shows that there’s different sentiments in town,” he said, referring to discussion before the council.

Chaim Borenstein, another resident, told the crowd that he had fears about anti-Semitism before he moved into a home on West Virginia Avenue a year ago.

But his neighbors have always offered a helping hand and families’ children have befriended each other. There’s even been talk of a neighborhood barbecue with both Kosher and non-Kosher food.

But the ordinance’s “motive is a clear message to the public,” Borenstein said. “Jews are not wanted in Jackson. Ordinances like these, which specifically target the youth of our community, are insulting. It’s not Jackson-like and, frankly, it’s un-American.”

The ordinance does not single out any specific kinds of dormitories; instead, it defines dormitories as buildings "designed or converted to contain living quarters" used by schools, colleges or religious groups.

While township officials haven't offered any explanation for the ordinance — other than the township attorney's citing a "resident complaint" — the motivation was not lost on my residents. For much of the last year, residents have openly voiced concern that the town is due for a yeshiva and dormitory catering to the growing Orthodox Jewish community.

Over the last two years, Kosher grocery stores and Hebrew signs have become more commonplace in Jackson, where Orthodox Jewish families are turning to avoid the congestion of Lakewood, whose population has skyrocketed beyond an estimated 99,000 residents.

The change in familiar culture has been embraced by some and feared by others.

JACKSON GROWS UP: Orthodox, senior communities on the rise

Longtime Jackson residents rejected the notion that the dormitory ordinance — and a complementary ordinance that bans public and private school construction in all but three small zoning districts — was rooted in bias.

Instead, it has been proposed simply to preserve the quality of life that attracted many of those Orthodox Jewish families to the township in the first place, supporters said.

“When I go to Lakewood, I see overpopulation, I see overpopulation and I see a hell of a lot of traffic,” Larkspur Lane resident Bob Skinner said. “I don’t want that coming here. If you can figure out a way of getting it to work here, I think the residents would be more than happy to welcome it.

“To use that ‘religious bias’ thing is getting really old and unacceptable,” he said.

But there is debate over the legality of the ordinance.

Last week, land use attorney Daniel Dalton told the Press that the law was legally sound, as it did not specifically target yeshivas or Orthodox schools. The only argument against it would be if there were extended stay hotels or group homes that had a similar impact on the surrounding area as a dormitory.

The only dormitories in Jackson are housing units operated by Six Flags Great Adventure for its seasonal employees. There are no yeshivas currently within the township's borders. In 2014, the zoning board rejected plans for an all-girls' Orthodox Jewish high school, which did not have a dormitory component.

But attorney Glenda Rath on Tuesday disputed Dalton's conclusions: “These proposed ordinances appear to be nothing more than veiled discrimination targeting a specific religious group,” she said. “Just because the ordinances are nominally applied does not mean they are legal.”

Rath's firm, Storzer & Associates, represents Gedola Na’os Yaakov, a group that spent two years fighting to build a yeshiva and dormitory in Ocean Township.

After rejection by the local land use board and a Superior Court judge, a federal judge ruled that the project was protected under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits placing overly burdensome land use laws on churches and other religious institutions.

MORE: Ocean Twp. yeshiva gets OK from feder al court

Avi Schanll, New Jersey director for advocacy group Agudath Israel, noted that religious bias has been in the news.

On Monday, more than 20 Jewish community centers throughout the United States — including a facility in Cherry Hill — were evacuated amid a series of bomb threats. At the same time, Jewish graveyards have been vandalized in at least two states.

“Nobody should ever say that religious discrimination is getting old or getting tired. It’s not,” Schnall said.

Schnall pointed out that large areas of Jackson are “heavily commercial,” with strip malls and the accompanying traffic. He said there had never been a proposal for a school or dormitory "in a resident’s backyard."

“Nobody wants that. Nobody is asking for that,” said Schnall, calling for a compromise that would maintain the township’s quality of life. “These people came tonight because they feel affronted. The residents of this town feel this ordinance singles them out. And it does.”

Mike Davis: 732-643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com