WOODCLIFF LAKE—The Borough Council unanimously approved an amended settlement agreement on July 25 with Valley Chabad Center For Jewish Life, permitting the congregation to move to a new facility in the commercial zone.
In a special Zoom meeting held at 1 p.m. on July 25, the council approved the amended settlement agreement sought by Valley Chabad to move its shul from its former home—now demolished—at 100 Overlook Drive to a new site on Chestnut Ridge Road, now occupied by an engineering firm.
The amended settlement agreement was not publicly available before or after the meeting. Pascack Press requested a copy but did not receive it by press time. Officials said a copy would be released as soon as possible following sign-offs by affected parties.
Valley Chabad says online it is “a place where Judaism is celebrated joyfully and meaningfully, where Judaism sheds relevant perspective to our daily lives. With opportunities to expand the mind, excite the heart and touch the soul, our Center offers a wide range of learning, connection and outreach venues, for all ages, where experience is paramount and questions are encouraged and embraced.”
It adds that though it’s based in Woodcliff Lake it serves the surrounding Pascack Valley and Saddle River communities. “Our center is premised on the idea that every individual has an indispensable contribution to make to the totality of the human experience.”
A shul, it says, is more than a synagogue. “A shul which is the Yiddish word for a place of prayer and study, is a home for any Jew looking for a warm and spiritual place to grow. At Chabad, everybody’s welcome. Come when you want. Leave when you want. Bring the whole gang. And while the kids are making new friends at their special ‘kid-friendly’ service, treat your soul to something special. With a ‘come as you are’ attitude, you’ll feel right at home. No matter where in the Pascack Valley you live, work or study, if you are looking for a place to express your soul, this shul’s for you.”
‘A win-win’
“For the community, this is a win, and for Valley Chabad, this is a win,” the center’s Rabbi Dov Drizin told Pascack Press on July 29. He said putting a 21,000-square-foot synagogue at 100 Overlook Drive did not make sense, even though the settlement of a prior religious discrimination lawsuit against the borough allowed the organization to build there.
Drizin told Pascack Press that when Valley Chabad acquires the office building and 2.95 acres at 530 Chestnut Ridge Road, “We’re going to grow our space from a smaller space into a bigger space.”
Drizin said the anticipated purchase of 530 Chestnut Ridge Road by Valley Chabad is a “win-win for the town.” He said it’s a “wonderful location” near the center of town, off a major thoroughfare, and not in a residential area. He said Valley Chabad is a Jewish educational outreach center that was and is part of the Woodcliff Lake community.
He noted that Valley Chabad won its prior discrimination lawsuit against the borough during the height of the pandemic, which delayed construction for years.
Mayor Carlos Rendo said that Valley Chabad’s proposed purchase came after “several months of discussions” between local and Chabad officials over constraints at the 100 Overlook Drive site. He said the Chestnut Ridge Road location was a “suitable location that makes sense” for an expanded Valley Chabad.
He said the amended settlement resolves a longstanding issue in town and praised Rabbi Dov Drizin for working hand in hand with officials to solve it. “He’s a leader in our community, and I thank him for his reasonableness. All kudos to Rabbi Drizin,” said Rendo.
The amended agreement supersedes an original agreement approved by the borough, Valley Chabad, and the U.S. Department of Justice in late 2020 that permitted the organization to expand on its 100 Overlook Drive location to a 21,000-square-foot facility, a settlement which rankled many residents at the time.
Moreover, the 2020 settlement paid Valley Chabad $1.5 million as a settlement of a 2016 religious discrimination lawsuit filed by Valley Chabad and later joined by the U.S. Department of Justice under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
The lawsuit charged discrimination against the borough and some officials in denying Valley Chabad an opportunity to expand at three locations in town, including their home site of 100 Overlook Drive. It was estimated to have cost the borough nearly $500,000 in legal fees to defend itself against Valley Chabad.
One site that Valley Chabad had eyed for its possible expansion in 2017 was 2.1 acres at the former Galaxy Gardens nursery, which the borough purchased for $1.65 million in early 2018.
Six years later, following $500,000 in environmental remediation, it is now turning into a passive park at a cost of $2.75 million. See “Stars line up for new park,” Michael Olohan, July 1, 2024, Pascack Press.
Borough administrator Tom Padilla told Pascack Press that Valley Chabad officials informed them they had changed tack on expanding at the 100 Overlook Drive location and were planning to purchase and move to 530 Chestnut Ridge Road, now an office building complex with a tenant.
Padilla said Valley Chabad told them they were under a deadline to act on the 530 Chestnut Ridge Road property and hoped to close soon on the site. He said the council needed to have a special Zoom meeting to meet Valley Chabad’s deadline, plus a couple of council members needed to remotely attend as they could not attend in person.
He said the special session lasted 15–20 minutes and was attended by one resident. The resident asked what would happen with the 100 Overlook Drive property. Padilla said Valley Chabad agreed to return the property to the tax rolls by Jan. 1, 2025. He also said any space not used for religious purposes at 530 Chestnut Ridge Road would pay property taxes.
“Things were moving pretty quick. The judge has to approve it and then it becomes public,” Padilla said. He noted that an engineering firm is headquartered at 530 Chestnut Ridge Road.
Padilla stressed the religious organization would be moving into a commercially zoned area, leaving its current site in a residential zone. He noted that Valley Chabad’s move to a commercial area from a residential area may be why the Zoom meeting did not draw much attention or opposition.
“Subsequent to the entry of the Consent Order on Oct. 30, 2020, Valley Chabad identified a property in the Borough of Woodcliff Lake that it believed was more suitable to be used as a house of worship and better met the congregation’s needs,” states the council’s resolution.
The resolution adds, “Valley Chabad is willing to waive the specific development rights granted to it at the Overlook Drive Property through the settlement agreement and Consent Order; and Valley Chabad is willing to agree that the Overlook Drive Property will return to the municipal and county tax rolls no later than Jan. 1, 2025; and the Borough of Woodcliff Lake agrees that the Chestnut Ridge Road Property is better suited for Valley Chabad’s intended use than the [former] 100 Overlook property, and that moving the house of worship to the Chestnut Ridge Road Property is beneficial to both Valley Chabad and the Borough of Woodcliff Lake.”