Atlantic Beach cries uncle in Chabad row

The Village of Atlantic Beach’s war against Chabad may finally be over, with the Five Towns-adjacent community crying “uncle.”

The US Justice Department said the village has pledged to revise zoning rules that subjected religious institutions to more requirements than it imposed on comparable secular gathering places.

The agreement resolves allegations that the village violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that protects religious groups from discriminatory land-use regulations.

The dispute followed a 2022 lawsuit by Long Beach-based Chabad of the Beaches that challenged the village’s denial of its application to use vacant commercial property.

The Justice Department said the village’s zoning code required religious or educational places of assembly to obtain a special-exception permit from its Board of Appeals, but nonreligious gathering places were not subject to the same requirement.

Under the settlement, Atlantic Beach will revise its zoning ordinance to “remove the special exception requirement for places of worship,” the department said. The Chabad site, at the foot of the Atlantic Beach Bridge, formerly housed a CapitalOne branch with a drive-through window.

The village also agreed to train officials and employees about the federal law and to establish a procedure for receiving and resolving complaints alleging violations of the Religious Land Use law.

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said the law requires religious gathering places to receive equal treatment under zoning rules.

Joseph Nocella Jr., US attorney for the Eastern District of NY, said the department and his office were committed to ensuring religious institutions receive equal treatment under the law.

“We are grateful to the Department of Justice for its continued defense of religious liberty,” Ryan Gardner, an attorney from First Liberty Institute who represented Chabad, said in a statement. “Chabad of the Beaches is thrilled to be able to minister to the community. It’s great to see the Village is continuing to support religious liberty by agreeing to amend Its zoning ordinance.”

Atlantic Beach Mayor Barry Frohlinger, looking to move past the clash with Chabad, said “we’re very happy to have this item almost totally behind us,” the Nassau Herald reported.

—The Jewish Star with JNS