Chabad
Lubavitch of Litchfield County and Rabbi Joseph Eisenbach are suing the town of
Litchfield, the Litchfield Historic District Commission and ten unnamed
individual defendants to overturn the commission’s rejection of Chabad’s
application to convert a 19th-century house into a synagogue.
The
commission ruled against Chabad in December, 2007, primarily on account of the
size and scale of the proposed addition, which, in the commission’s
opinion, would overwhelm the original house. The commission indicated that it
would be willing to consider a revised plan with a smaller addition.
The
lawsuit, filed under the Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), claims that the commission “engaged
in a targeted and deliberate effort to prevent the Plaintiffs from developing
the Property…while permitting other development within the Town that is
substantially similar…constituting a pattern of religious discrimination
directed at the Jewish people.”
Chabad asks the court to allow the
synagogue to be built as planned, award damages, and appoint a monitor to
ensure that the defendants comply with all court orders. RLUIPA forbids regulatory bodies from putting undue burdens
on religious practices. However, the historic district commission noted that it
was ruling solely on the appearance—not the use—of the house and that it had
taken special care not to rule on religious matters or to treat Chabad
differently from any secular applicant.
