Clarkstown, Ateres settle congregation's lawsuit over former church property in Nanuet

NANUET — Clarkstown's insurance carrier has settled a discrimination lawsuit brought by an Orthodox Jewish congregation for $200,000 over contested plans to develop a school on the former Grace Baptist Church property.

The settlement with Ateres Bais Yaakov Academy of Rockland includes Clarkstown land-use board members taking classes on facets of the Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act, also known as RLUIPA. One major aspect of the federal law of 2000 is to protect religious institutions from discriminatory land-use decisions.

Learn more: RLUIPA cases prove costly for governments, favorable to religious groups

Ateres filed a $10 million federal civil rights lawsuit against Clarkstown officials and the grassroots group CUPON of Greater Nanuet. The congregation claimed the town and CUPON undermined its efforts to buy the church property on Demarest Avenue. The lawsuit remains against CUPON.

Clarkstown bought the church property for $4.5 million in January 2020 after Ateres couldn't complete the purchase for $5.5 million. The town plans to develop the property, possibly with senior citizen housing and parking for the Nanuet School District, Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann has said.

Hoehmann said Friday that the town's insurance company settled what he called a nuisance lawsuit by Ateres. He said "lawsuits against governments are unfortunately common, the cost of doing business."

"It's over," Hoehmann said of the town's role in the legal action. "The insurance company reached a nuisance settlement. They (Ateres) were seeking $10 million. I am delighted we no longer have concerns about a lawsuit."

Deputy Town Attorney Kevin Conway said Friday that the settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing and dismisses Clarkstown from the lawsuit.

He said the town has long held classes for land-use board members that included RLUIPA.

"We do RLUIPA training for the zoning board and planning board," Conway said. "We're going to provide an additional RLUIPA training part."

Ateres is happy with the settlement, the congregation's attorney said on Friday.

"We are pleased with the outcome of the case with respect to the town as we continue the case against the CUPON entities," said attorney Yehudah Buchweitz, a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

The attorney for CUPON didn't immediately respond.

Ateres has moved from site to site

The Ateres lawsuit had been tied up in the courts for several years.

U.S. District Court Judge Nelson Roman originally dismissed Ateres' lawsuit in 2022. Roman ruled the legal action was premature and town officials didn’t conspire with CUPON to block the congregation from buying the three-plus acre property.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Roman, the three-judge panel sent the case back to Roman, finding that Ateres had standing for its lawsuit and the issues should be heard.

The legal action against CUPON of Greater Nanuet continues, according to the settlement with Clarkstown filed with the federal court.

"Plaintiff, by and through its undersigned counsel, voluntarily dismisses all claims in this action with prejudice, solely as against the Town and George Hoehmann," according to the settlement. "For avoidance of doubt, Plaintiff is not dismissing its claims against CUPON, Inc. or Citizens United to Protect Our Neighborhoods of Greater Nanuet Inc."

Before Ateres founder and dean Rabbi Aaron Fink eyed buying the 150-year-old church, which went on the market in late 2017, he operated a school in Airmont. He had to move when the property was bought by the United Talmudical Academy, a Satmar Hasidic Jewish school system that has been involved in litigation with the village.

After Airmont, Fink attempted to open the girls' school using trailers as classrooms on a construction site for an education center on five acres along Summit Park Road in New Hempstead.

The Summit Road project became fraught with controversy. In September 2017, it was shut down because it was operating first without running water hooked into the public water system, using a garden hose attached to the neighboring house to provide water. The school also was not hooked to the electrical grid, using a long extension cord to the house.

Ateres has moved on to a location in Ramapo, according to the congregation's attorney, Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Manhattan.

Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com Twitter: @lohudlegal

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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Clarkstown insurance paying Ateres $200K to end lawsuit, officials say