The former Laurelton Funeral Home, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Monmouth-Ocean MLS)
Temple Beth Or, a longtime Brick Township congregation, will appear before the township’s zoning board in an effort to secure a new home.
The congregation, from 1976 until 2021, had its temple located at the corner of Van Zile Road and Hendrickson Avenue. It was sold last year to Lakewood developer David Gluck, who began illegally operating a boys’ high school in the former house of worship until the township took him to court and secured an order to shut down the school pending planning board approval. Hearing on that matter began last year and have since stalled.
Temple Beth Or is looking to establish its new home at 109 Pier Avenue, the former Laurelton Funeral Home, located off Route 70, across the street from St. Thomas Lutheran Church.
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Though the funeral home building is located adjacent to an existing house of worship and includes a parking lot, board approval is required due to the township’s zoning ordinance, which calls for a 2-acre parcel for houses of worship, where about a half-acre of space exists at the site. The lot on which the building stands is 100-feet wide rather than 200-feet wide, as required, and there are numerous existing measurements with minor deviations that necessitate relief.
A separate use variance is required to convert the building from a funeral home use to a house of worship use.
The hearing will be held at the Aug. 17 meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, which begins at 7 p.m. at the township municipal complex.
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