Kesher The Community Temple of Englewood & Tenafly Seeks To Expand

Temple Kesher in Tenafly & Englewood Seeks To Expand

Kesher  synagogue located at 509 Engle Street in Tenafly is seeking to expand its facilities to allow for a youth center as well as expand the existing sanctuary. The temple that was  founded in 2000 and grew from a 10 family membership to over 100 families currently.

The temple is 60-70 percent in Englewood jurisdiction and only 30-40 percent in Tenafly’s jurisdiction. The Englewood Adjustment Board has already approved the requests for its portion and will officially vote on them in August. The temple has appeared before the Adjustment board of Tenafly in July seeking the necessary variances .

As the temple is a place of worship, the zoning laws that govern it  are slightly different than those applied to other  establishments  when seeking variances.

According to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, if a governing body applies any land restrictions to a house of worship they can only do so if the establishment affects essential community character. Unless there is a proven detriment to the community the inherent benefit of the building will more likely than not trump any violations.

According to  attorney Urdang Elliot, who is representing the temple in Tenafly  “I don’t see anything that rises to that level.”