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Council adopts R1.5 zoning change after tense public hearing over proposed Hindu school
Summary
After hours of testimony from attorneys, parents and children advocating for the Artem Hindu School and residents raising traffic and safety concerns, the Robbinsville Council voted to amend the R1.5 low‑density zoning to restrict schools in certain areas, citing hazardous arterial roads as the primary rationale.
The Robbinsville Township Council held an extended, often emotional public hearing on Ordinance 2026‑22, which amends the R1.5 low‑density residential zoning to remove schools as a permitted use on certain parcels.
Attorney Kevin Leach, representing property owners who proposed the Artem Hindu School, warned the council the draft ordinance "may implicate RLUIPA" (the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act) and argued the timing and carve‑out raised concerns about potential liability. Leach urged the council to reject the ordinance, saying the law protects religious institutions from unduly burdensome zoning actions.
Numerous parents and community members — including Arshna Upadhyay, several children and local volunteers — spoke in favor of keeping schools as a permitted use, emphasizing small enrollment, educational choice and cultural programming. "Families in Robbinsville already exercise school choice... I'm asking you to not remove the possibility," Arshna Upadhyay said.
Speakers including a civil engineer and multiple resident witnesses asked for baseline traffic, enrollment or infrastructure studies before permanently changing the zoning, with one calling for the planning analysis to be published so residents could respond. Council members and staff repeatedly said the ordinance addresses safety on roads the township's engineer had designated as hazardous, naming Tyndall Road and several other arterial roads as examples.
Council briefly moved to executive session under attorney‑client privilege to consider matters raised in the hearing. After reconvening, council adopted the ordinance by roll call. The chair and legal staff emphasized the change was framed as a public‑safety and land‑use decision rather than a judgment on religion.
The adoption means schools will no longer be a permitted principal use in the amended portions of the R1.5 zone; council did not adopt a separate traffic mitigation plan that night. Several residents asked the township to publish supporting planning analysis and to allow further public review on related site‑plan issues.
