Litchfield, CT – A nonprofit Jewish organization has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the town of Litchfield and other defendants after its plans for a new headquarters with a temple were rejected.
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Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court. It accuses the town, the Historic District Commission and 10 unnamed defendants of “a pattern of religious discrimination” and violations of the group’s civil and religious freedom rights.
First Selectman Leo Paul and a lawyer for the Historic District Commission didn’t immediately return messages Thursday.
The commission denied Chabad Lubavitch’s application in 2007, saying the group’s proposed expansion of a 135-year-old building to 21,000 square feet was too big for the historic district.
Maybe they just don’t like Chabad.
Most of the structures in this area, a designated historic district with an eclectic mix of architectural styles, are in the range of 3,000-5,000 sq. ft. and 28-34 foot height with fairly large front and side yard setbacks. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that a 20,000 square foot structure on this lot would be totally out of scale with the rest of the neighborhood.
Why do yidden continually seek to impose themelves in neighborhoods where they are not wanted and will adversely affect the community.??
Unless in recent years the town has approved renovations of other historic buildings in the historic district that are as large as this propoposed project and are otherwise similar in scale and design, it is hard to understand how this is discriminatory. New England towns are very protective of their historic districts. Often you can’t cut down a bush or put on a new roof without adhering to strict requirements. Some districts have to approve your paint color. You may not like it, but it’s not religious discrimination.
#3 is absolutely right – I know the town of Litchfield well, and the town is quite strict about changes in the historic district near the town green. Chabad is literally right next to the town green in Litchfield, on West Street. All that the town wants is to keep Starbucks and Ann Taylor out of the center, not Yidden. The town doesn’t want to set a precedent of zoning variances. There are plenty of suitable locations for an expanded Chabad house in town, on Route 202 within say a 20 minute walk from the green either east or west. They’d be smarter to look at those anyway – why try to renovate an antique building if you’re trying to build a nice community center?
Please get the facts straight before commenting.
Fact: there have bee recent renovations/expansions of churches ON the green that far outsize the proposed Chabad renovations.
Fact: one of the reasons originally given by a committee member for the refusal was a proposed magen david on the exterior of the shul. …turns out one of the churches on the green also has a magen david built into the facade. the commitee member responsible for that “concern” has resigned.
The list goes on and on to prove that this is undeniable bias, period.
please do a little research before posting your arrogant opinion on this forum.
I think Jefferson has it wrong and seems to be biased himself. How about getting the facts before you kick out your false comments. The facts are: The person who commented on the magen david is Jewish herself. I don’t think she has any hidden agendas. Nobody is against the magen david, it just needs to be used in context with the historic district. Fact #2 – The churches you reference, one of which is from the 1700’s, predate zoning and zoning regulations. One had burnt down and was rebuilt to its original footprint. How about throwing some more false facts out and I can let you know the truth. This church is more than welcome in the Litchfield community, but they need to stop making this a racist issue and get back to the real issue, which is a zoning/historic issue. God Bless