Court Refuses To Order Town To Allow Eruv

In East End Eruv Association, Inc. v. Village of Westhampton Beach, (ED NY, Nov. 3, 2011), a New York federal district court refused to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent the Town of Southampton (NY) from interfering with a Jewish group's constructing an eruv (symbolic boundary) by attaching plastic strips to utility poles. Utility companies that owned the poles had negotiated arrangements to permit the eruv, if required permits were obtained. The court held that the case was not ripe because plaintiffs had not applied to the town for a permit or variance. Doing so would allow the town to decide whether or not its sign ordinance applied to the eruv.  The court went on to hold that even if the case was ripe, plaintiffs had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their free exercise claims under the 1st Amendment or RLUIPA. The sign ordinance is a neutral law of general applicability, and the record does not show selective enforcement. No RLUIPA claim lies because plaintiffs have shown no property interest in any land involved. Since no relief was available against Southampton, so the eruv could not now be built, the court denied without prejudice motions for preliminary injunctions against two other towns through which the eruv would run. Westhampton- Hampton Bays Patch and 27 East report on the decision. (See prior related posting.)