Jackson sued over approval of Orthodox school campus
JACKSON – The school campus that would serve more than 2,000 Orthodox Jewish girls should never have been approved in the first place — and the planning board chairman should never have been allowed to vote on it, neighbors and opponents of the projects assert in a new lawsuit.
A group of four residents filed suit against the Jackson planning board and Bais Yaakov of Jackson this week, alleging that the board "palpably abused its discretionary authority" in its March approval of the school project. Bais Yaakov of Jackson — an arm of Bais Faiga, the all-girls' school associated with the Lakewood Cheder School — won approval in March for a three-school campus, with a fourth gymnasium building, that would serve more than 2,300 elementary and high school girls from Jackson’s booming Orthodox Jewish community.
The plaintiffs, who spoke out against the project at two public hearings on the project, are asking a judge to overturn the planning board's decision.
One of the plaintiffs, Jeff Bova, told board members in March that he was against the location of the project and not the idea of a school campus itself. Bova is the managing member of Omega Farm LLC, listed as another plaintiff in the lawsuit.
"It's not about the 'who,' it's about the 'where.' And this is just not the right 'where,'" Bova told the board in March. "We can all contest that we need more schools, and we all understand the town is growing and changing. But it's the 'where' that is the issue."
Joseph Michelini, an attorney representing the other plaintiffs, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
School officials said the Jackson campus was necessary because of the rapidly growing student body in the town. Rabbi Yosef Posen, the school’s executive director, told planning board members that more than 450 students were being bussed from Jackson to attend school in Lakewood.
"They belong in Jackson. They pay taxes in Jackson. They're Jackson kids. Why do they have to be bused to Lakewood daily when we can build these beautiful schools right here?” Posen said.
Much of the complaint criticizes the planning board for being “deficient” in its review of the Bais Faiga application, accepting what the complaint describes as inconclusive testimony from the school’s staff and professional experts.But the lawsuit dedicates its harshest criticism to Herman, who has served on the board since 2022 and its chairman since January. Herman, 34, previously served on the board of a shul – an Orthodox Jewish synagogue – on South New Prospect Road that went through a four-year battle with the zoning board to get approval.
Both Herman’s shul and Bais Faiga were represented by Donna Jennings, an attorney who represents most of the developers looking to build Orthodox projects in Jackson.
The lawsuit also alleges Herman was conflicted due to his role as editor of online magazine of Jackson Pulse, an online magazine for Orthodox Jews in Jackson that highlights where shuls and Orthodox schools are needed, proposed or preparing to open.
Herman declined to comment, and planning board attorney Robert Shea could not be reached for comment.
Last year, Herman told the Asbury Park Press that his only role with Jackson Pulse is to read over articles and that "every application stands on its own merits, or lack thereof."
The lawsuit represents a new wrinkle in Jackson’s recent history of legal strife. For the better part of a decade, the township has been fighting lawsuits that allege township officials – egged on by residents – passed ordinances and took action to discriminate against the Orthodox Jewish community.
Among other actions, those lawsuits allege that the town was unlawful in discouraging developers from trying to build schools for the Orthodox community.
Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and a little bit of everything else. He's won a few awards that make his parents very proud. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jackson NJ: Lawsuit filed over Bais Faiga school campus
