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A local rabbi filed a lawsuit against Kingston and its zoning and code enforcement officer earlier this month for allegedly violating his civil rights following the closure of two of his properties for what the borough claims were multiple zoning violations.
According to court records, the civil complaint was filed on Nov. 13 by Alexander M. Brunelle, of Brunelle Law Group LLC on behalf of his client, Anash Inc., doing business as Wyoming Valley Yeshiva, and Rabbi Shimon Hellinger, individually and as a representative of Wyoming Valley Yeshiva.
Anash Inc., as stated in the complaint, “is a domestic not-for-profit corporation” with a registered office at 190 Sahara Dr., Kingston.
Kingston Borough, David R. Yefko, individually and as Kingston Zoning Officer, and Robert Suchoski, individually and as Kingston Code Enforcement Officer were named as defendants.
The complaint was filed in the state Middle District Court and assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani, according to court records.
Hellinger alleges that the defendants violated his first, fourth, fifth and fourteenth amendment rights, as well as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
According to the Department of Justice, that act protects “individuals, houses of worship, and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning and landmarking laws.”
The alleged zoning violations were for two properties owned by Hellinger and used for religious activities, 44 and 239 Pierce St.
Following a police raid on Oct. 1 of both spaces, the complaint stated that the borough ordered both locations “permanently closed” after it determined Hellinger was allegedly using them for uses not permitted by the zoning code, and because Hellinger would not allow the code enforcement officer to perform a site inspection on the properties.
Hellinger used 44 Pierce property as his office and, according to the complaint, “regularly engaged in prayer and study of Jewish texts, law, ethics and philosophy.”
The lawsuit claims the borough determined that made the property a school, which Hellinger said is “arbitrary and untrue.”
Similarly, the lawsuit states that Hellinger used the property at 239 Pierce St., a single-family home, as a “form of religious retreat” and that the borough determined it was a “rooming/boarding house” or “dormitory.”
The classification as a dormitory, the lawsuit alleges, does not appear in the zoning code.
The complaint further alleges that the timing of the police raids “underscored their antisemitic design” as they occurred on the eve of the Jewish New Year.
The lawsuit claims that Hellinger was not given an opportunity to appeal any of the alleged zoning violations before the properties were closed and that Yefko did not, at the time, file the citations with the district court.
Of note, Hellinger is seeking the condemnations of both properties to be lifted, the annulment of any provisions of the borough zoning ordinance that violate or impede the free exercise of religious, damages and recovery of attorneys’ fees, the lawsuit states.
When reached for comment, Yefko said he could not talk about the lawsuit and directed the Times Leader to speak with the Municipal Secretary, Angela Sallemi.
Efforts to reach Sallemi were not immediately successful.
A phone call to Kingston Borough’s solicitor, Harry Mattern, was not immediately returned.
According to court records, a case management conference for various pre-trial activities is expected to take place within four months of the complaints’ filing.