Judge tosses some 'discriminatory' Pomona ordinances

<p>Some ordinances created by a Rockland County village have been thrown out after a federal judge deemed them discriminatory and that they limited the rights of the Rabbinical College of Tartikov to build a school.</p>

News 12 Staff

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Dec 8, 2017, 10:37 PM

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Updated 2,339 days ago

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Some ordinances created by a Rockland County village have been thrown out after a federal judge deemed them discriminatory and that they limited the rights of the Rabbinical College of Tartikov to build a school.

For 10 years, the Rabbinical College wanted to build its religious school to train rabbinical judges for the Orthodox and Hassidic Jewish Communities. They continually hit roadblocks in the form of new zoning laws.

Joseph Churgin, an attorney for Rabbinical College, called it an "an attempt to keep a religious group from purchasing and developing a property and moving into an area."

"They passed a law that said you have to have an accreditation to have a school in their village. This type of school, there is no accreditation you can get," said Churgin.

A district court judge ruled that the village of Pomona violated the Fair Housing Act and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The village says it's reviewing the decision and has no comment.

Religious leaders say they are thrilled they can finally move forward with their plans to build. They will still need to be approved by the village.

School officials also plan to file an order of judgment against the village for reimbursement of their $4 million in legal fees.

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