N.J. town strikes agreement with feds, will change zoning for houses of worship
Updated Mar 10, 2021;
Toms River has agreed to change its zoning rules for houses of worship in order to avoid litigation with the U.S. Department of Justice, which argues amendments to the municipality’s code in recent years violate federal law by severely restricting where religious institutions can locate.
The decision comes amidst of growth of the Orthodox Jewish population in the town.
On Tuesday night, the town council voted 6-1 to approve a consent decree with the Justice Department that would resolve a lawsuit brought by the federal government alleging changes to the township’s religious land use rules in 2009 and 2017 failed to comply with the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).