Zoners' Motion To Dismiss RLUIPA Claim By Jewish School Loses

Last week, the federal district court for the Southern District of New York handed down another opinion in the long-running battle between the Orthodox Jewish Westchester Day School and Mamorenek, New York zoning authorities. The school had been denied a special permit that would allow it to construct a new school building and renovate existing buildings on its campus. In Westchester Day School v. Village of Mamorenek, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15380 (SDNY, July 27, 2005), the court refused to dismiss the school's RLUIPA claim challenging the denial. It found that material issues of fact remained that needed to be determined at trial on whether there had been a complete denial of the school's permit application and, even if the denial was not a complete one, whether it nonetheless constituted a substantial burden on WDS's religious exercise. The court, however, upheld the dismissal of the school's religious discrimination claim under 42 USC Sec. 1983 on the ground that the complaint did not allege religious discrimination in the denial.