Hearing To Use Brick Township Church As School is Postponed Tuesday

Fellowship Chapel, the site of a proposed school, at 170 Duchess Lane, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)

A hearing during which testimony was set to continue in the case of Brick Township’s Fellowship Chapel and its quest to be allowed to operate a school on its property will not go forward Tuesday.

The township’s zoning board was scheduled to continue hearing the case – and possibly completing testimony and taking a vote – on Tuesday night during a special meeting at the township’s Civic Plaza facility, but the matter was taken off the agenda and the meeting called off.

Township officials told Shorebeat on Monday that two new dates were under consideration and one may be announced as early as Tuesday or Wednesday. No specific reason was divulged as to why the meeting was canceled, however one of the objectors in the controversial case said a miscommunication about which witnesses were due to testify led to the adjournment. The objector, a nearby resident, asked not to be named in this story.

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A group of residents near the Fellowship Chapel property, which is completely surrounded by single-family homes on Duchess Lane, have hired attorney Edward Liston to oppose the church’s plan to gain a variance that would allow a school to be operated at the property. The “school,” in this case, is the Liberty School Association, a group of parents who do not wish to send their children to traditional public schools, but are seeking to have their children educated in a group setting despite technically being classified as home-school students. There are lingering questions as to whether the organization is religious in nature, a home-school collective, a private school or simply a gathering of parents.

While the status of the school could have some legal implications, neighbors are primarily concerned that the school use could generate extra traffic in the residential neighborhood and be too intensive a use for the property. Additionally, there are concerns over the potential for an expansion of the school use in the future should the church property be sold to another party, since the variance may continue to be valid even under new ownership or leadership.

Shorebeat will report on the new meeting date once it is set.