Over the coming weeks, because I believe that it is important that Christians should be aware of this situation, I am going to provide several examples of how religious freedom is being challenged in this country in regard to the right of religious organizations to build new facilities or renovate old ones.

Westchester Day School is a Jewish school in Mamaroneck, New York.  WDS has been functioning as an elementary and middle school on the same 26-acre site since 1948.  Currently, their student population numbers about 500 students.

WDS owns four buildings, two of which are an estate house and a carriage house that were converted for use as classroom buildings.  The house was built in 1897, and the carriage house was built in 1892.  The third building, Wolfson Hall, was constructed sometime in the 60's.  The fourth building, Westchester Hebrew Hall, was built in 1979.

Since there had been no new construction or renovations since the late seventies, the buildings had become in need of repair or were obsolete.

In 1998, WDS hired an architectural firm to design Gordon Hall, a new classroom building.  The building was designed according to building codes and was in compliance with the local zoning code.

In October of 2001, following legal procedure, the school submitted their plans to the Mamaroneck Board of Appeals for permission to begin their project.  The Board of Appeals discussed the project each month for the next four months, and during that time determined that the project would not have a negative impact on the neighborhood.  However, neighbors of the school had begun to voice their opposition to the project.

In February of 2002, the Board directed the school to meet with their neighbors to try to resolve their objections. The school sent invitations to a meeting to about 500 households, but only about 75 people attended the meeting.
The Board met again in March of 2002, but since there was still some vocal opposition to the project by neighbors, the Board adjourned their meeting without a decision.

In April, the Board chairman suggested that the Board rescind their earlier decision that the school would not have a negative impact on the neighborhood.  In May, they issued a list of things that the school would have to comply with in order to eliminate the negative impact.  The school complied with the list.

In August, despite the fact that the school had complied with their demands, the Board voted to rescind their earlier decision and to deny the school's application to build their project.

A few days after the Board's decision, the WDS filed a lawsuit against the Village of Mamaroneck, claiming that the Board's earlier decision had not been properly rescinded.  In a decision in December of 2002, the judge agreed, and sent the case back to the Board of Appeals to reconsider the case.

In January of 2003, the Board met to consider the matter, but tabled it until the following month.  The judge then ordered the Board to issue a list of any items that would prevent their approval of the school's project.  The school once again complied with the Board's list, but in May of 2003, the Board once again denied the school's application.

The school immediately filed another lawsuit, this time stating the Board had violated the RLUIP Act. 

In September of 2003, the judge found the case in favor of the school, stating that 1) "RLUIPA is a constitutional exercise of the Enforcement Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment", 2) "RLUIPA is a permissible exercise of Congress's broad power to act under the Commerce Clause", 3) "RLUIPA does not violate the Establishment Clause", and 4) "RLUIPA does not violate the Tenth Amendment".

The judge then ordered the Board to issue an unconditional permit to the school for their project.

But that's not the end of it.  The Board immediately filed an appeal.  The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty (from whose website I have used as a source for this article) has begun performing legal services for Westchester Day School in the case.  No word on when this will be settled.

It is critical that our churches understand that just because we have laws to protect our religious freedoms, there is no guarantee that people who are anti-Semitic or anti-Christian will comply with the law without a fight.  Westchester has been fighting this battle for over 2 years and has incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and other expenses, and their fight is not over yet.