DUE TO LARGE CROWDS, JACKSON COUNCIL HOLDS OFF FROM VOTING ON DORMITORY ORDINANCES

Jackson Township's Council was scheduled tonight to adopt their U.S. Justice Department settlement agreement ordinance.

However, due to large crowds at the meeting - at the recommendation of the Fire Marshall - the Council held off from voting tonight. The vote will be held at a future meeting which will be held at a larger venue.

Back on June 15, 2022, Jackson Township and the U.S. Justice Department signed a Consent Decree whereby Jackson Township agreed to repeal their 2017 ordinance which restricted private school development and "replace it with an ordinance that will allow religious elementary and secondary schools, religious higher learning institutions and religious residential schools in numerous residential and other zoning districts, and permitting associated housing such as dormitories as an accessory to private, parochial, and public schools in certain zoning districts."

The consent order specifies that the new zoning ordinance is required to treat religious schools equally with non-religious institutions that operate in the Township.

The Council was scheduled tonight to adopt Ordinances 30-23 and 31-23 which will bring signatures into action and pave the way for shul, schools, dormitories, and mikvahs.

For good measure - though completely unrelated to the litigation - the ordinance will also pave the way for "faculty residences."

Faculty residences are "dwelling units for the exclusive use of the faculty or administrative personnel of a School or Higher Learning Institution (and their family members).... and may be configured as multi-family buildings, townhomes, duplexes or single-family homes."

The idea in creating a carve out for "faculty residences" is to permit for less parking requirements, as R.S.I.S. requires "less [than] one space allocated to each faculty member residing in the residence provided the Faculty Residence is located on the same lot as or an adjacent lot to the Higher learning institution or secondary school."

Township officials declined to explain why "faculty residences" were inserted into tonight's settlement ordinance, or who asked for them to be inserted.

The full ordinance is available here.

Due to large crowds at the meeting - at the recommendation of the Fire Marshall - the Council held off from voting tonight. The vote will be held at a future meeting which will be held at a larger venue.

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