Mohammad Ali Chaudry, the former mayor of Bernards Township, co-founded the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge. PHOTO: BRYAN ANSELM FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
A New Jersey town will pay $3.25 million to settle two federal lawsuits that alleged discrimination against a local Islamic society, according to an agreement that paves the way for the Muslim group to open the town’s first mosque.
The settlement, the terms of which were made public Tuesday, resolves complaints lodged by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and the U.S. Department of Justice that accused the Bernards Township Planning Board of violating a federal law that prohibits religious discrimination in land-use decisions. Town officials denied anti-Islam bias and said they rejected the application because of parking concerns.
Last December, a federal judge ruled that planning board members showed “sufficient intent to discriminate on the basis of religion” in their consideration of the mosque proposal. The 11-member board held 39 public hearings on the proposed mosque before voting in December 2015 to deny the application.
The settlement, which will be paid by the town’s insurance carriers, includes $1.5 million in damages for the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and $1.75 million in compensation for legal costs. It also requires officials “not impede in any way” the necessary local approvals for the mosque, which will be built on a 4-acre site owned by the Islamic Society, co-founded by former Bernards Township Mayor Mohammad Ali Chaudry.
New Jersey Acting U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Tuesday that towns must treat houses of worship proposals “like any other land use application.”
“Bernards Township made decisions that treated the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge differently than other houses of worship,” Mr. Fitzpatrick said in a written statement. “The settlement announced today corrects those decisions and ensures that members of this religious community have the same ability to practice their faith as all other religions.”
The case was one of nearly 20 disputes across the country that prompted lawsuits by the Justice Department under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, according to a December letter sent by the federal agency to local officials.
The federal government has opened nearly 100 formal investigations into alleged violations of the law, which prohibits local officials from using religious discrimination or substantially-burdensome land-use regulations in their consideration of proposed houses of worship.
In 2014, the New Jersey township of Bridgewater settled a federal discrimination suit for $7.75 million and agreed to allow the Al Falah Center to open a mosque there. Last week, a Muslim group seeking to build a mosque in Bayonne, N.J. filed a federal lawsuit alleging religious discrimination by the city’s zoning officials.
The mosque in Bernards Township will provide 50 paved parking spaces, the same number as initially proposed in the Islamic society’s 2012 application, as well as some overflow parking to accommodate a maximum 150 people.
Bernards Township is an affluent town of about 27,000 in Somerset County.
“We look forward to welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds to our mosque,” Dr. Chaudry, who has a doctorate in economics, said in a written statement provided by his attorney on Tuesday. “Our doors will be open to anyone interested in building bridges to promote harmony in the community and peace in the world.”
Bernards Township officials said the settlement decision reflected a desire to avoid further costly litigation, according to a written statement issued by a spokesman hired by the town to handle public statements related to the mosque litigation.
“The township maintains that the denial of the planning board was based on accepted land use criteria only,” the statement said. “Indeed, Bernards Township is a diverse and inclusive community.”
The Islamic Society’s attorney, Adeel Mangi of the New York firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, said it would donate its share of the settlement to charity and “other worthy causes.”
“Municipalities around the country should pay close attention to what happened in Bernards Township,” Mr. Mangi said in a written statement. “The American Muslim community has the legal resources, the allies, and the determination to stand up for its constitutional rights in court and will do so.”
Legal exhibits filed by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge included several examples of alleged bias by Bernards Township officials, including an email by a planning board member who wrote that “Islam owes its size and in[fl]uence to a tradition from Day One of forced conversion through violent means.” Another email sent by a township committee member said Mr. Chaudry should be prevented from participating in a town Sept. 11 memorial event and suggested instead finding “a real moderate Muslim.”
The Bernards Township spokesman declined to comment on the emails. Mr. Chaudry served as the Republican mayor of the town in 2004.
The settlement agreement also mandates Bernards Township officials undergo diversity training, including on Islam, as well as instruction on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person Act.
The town also must change or replace an ordinance passed in 2013 that required houses of worship only to be built on 6-acre plots. The Islamic Society claimed in its lawsuit that the zoning change was intended to prevent them from building their, an allegation town officials denied.
Appeared in the May 31, 2017, print edition as 'Mosque Settles For $3.25 Million.'
