Islamic Society of Basking Ridge

Former Bernards mayor and president of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, Mohammad Ali Chaudry, in the prayer room at the society's home on Church Street. (Keith Muccilli | For NJ Advance Media)

BERNARDS TWP. -- Bernards Township's insistence that a proposed mosque have more parking spaces than churches or synagogues is unconstitutional, a federal judge said in a ruling filed New Year's Eve.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Shipp's ruling eviscerates the township's main reason for rejecting Islamic Society of Basking Ridge's plan to build a mosque in the Liberty Corner section of town.

The court victory is a turning point in the nearly four-year saga of the Islamic Society's desire to move its worship from rented space to a mosque.

That plan, which triggered neighborhood opposition, went through 39 planning board meetings before being rejected in December of 2015. The mosque then sued, claiming the township's requirement of a "supersized" parking lot was a perfect example of religious discrimination.

Noting that "mosques are under assault throughout the country," the mosque's attorney, Adeel Mangi, told Judge Shipp that parking requirements were the tool municipalities used to thwart construction of mosques.

"This truly is a landmark ruling with national impact," he said Sunday.

In a statement released by Bernards Mayor Carol Bianchi, the township indicated it was considering its next step.

"The Township vehemently disagrees with the Court's decision and awaits a full analysis of the 57-page decision by its attorneys, who only learned of the decision on New Year's Day," the statement said. "The Township will consider how to best move forward including appealing the decision when ripe for appeal."

It its legal defense, the township said it was completely appropriate to insist a mosque provide more off-street parking than a comparably-sized church or synagogue because of its unique worship times and traditions.

"It's not based on religion," the township's attorney, Howard Mankoff told the judge in oral arguments Dec. 20. "It's based simply on the parking needs of the applicant."

The mosque had said its peak worship time was likely Friday afternoon prayers. Township planners determined that because congregants would most likely be arriving straight from work, every worshipper would require a parking space.

However, Shipp noted the township had not conducted individual assessments of worship habits when churches or synagogues came before its boards. By its own admission, the town applied a different standard to Muslims, he wrote. That violates the Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act, or RLUIPA.

The township had argued that if the court requires all applicants to be treated under exactly the same rules would strip local planning boards of authority.

It returned to that argument in Sunday's statement: "This decision has major implications for municipal land use boards and their ability to determine the actual off-street parking needs of proposed projects without fear of alleged RLUIPA violations."

But Judge Shipp said the township's vague parking requirements gave the planning board "unbridled and unconstitutional discretion."

Shipp did not take into account the sentiments expressed in emails from township officials that were revealed in documents filed in the case, Mangi noted. In those, officials disparaged the Islamic Society's president, former mayor Mohammed Ali Chaudry, and passed around anti-Obama jokes calling him a Muslim.

In addition, the musings of a planning board employee in her online journal included her conclusion that the mosque's application was being subjected to a different level of scrutiny that smacked of discrimination.

"They are allowed to lie for the sake of their religion," the unnamed journal-writer said she heard a township official state.

Officials defended those emails, saying they had no bearing on the planning board's consideration of the land-use case.

Township officials had not yet been reached for comment.

Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.