The Journal News reports:

RAMAPO – Two proposed yeshiva projects that have drawn opposition from neighbors are to be reviewed tomorrow night by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Both the Mesifta Beth Shraga’s plan for a yeshiva and dormitory on Camp Hill Road and the Bobover Yeshiva of Monsey’s proposal for a day school on Route 306 were on the agenda as of late yesterday afternoon.

Bobover’s presentation was canceled last month. An adjournment was also sought by Mesifta’s representatives, but it was denied by the town.

No one representing Mesifita attended that meeting, but the board heard from 10 speakers, all opposed to the project on the former estate of the late actor Burgess Meredith.

Other opponents were waiting to speak when the board closed the May 14 session. They may be heard tomorrow night, as well as Mesifta’s responses to the objections.

Those opposing the plan have seen it as clashing with the residential neighborhood and debasing grounds linked to the American Revolution.

An attorney for Mesifta, Ira Emanuel of New City, has said the main and oldest portion of a Revolutionary War-era house on the property will be preserved and that an archeological survey revealed nothing of significance.

Carol Friedman, who lives across Route 306 from the proposed Bobover project, was concerned yesterday about being on the same agenda with the Camp Hill Road plan, which brought about 150 residents to the May meeting.

Both could be lengthy proceedings, she said, and could prove tiring for all concerned.

Friedman said she and her neighbors were resolved in their opposition to the Bobover plan, which would bring 250 students to the 2-acre site.

Their concerns increased when a cow was slaughtered in the backyard last month, apparently during a kosher butchering practice session.

Rabbi Gershon Bornfreund, the school’s director, later apologized for the incident, and Bobover was fined $5,000 by the town, the maximum for conducting an unapproved use of the property.

Bobover had been illegally using a single-family house on the site, but the town allowed the school to remain open after fire and safety codes were met.

“The school is still in session; they haven’t closed it down,” Friedman said, “which tells me that no one, at least in Town Hall, seems to care.”

The Mesifta project calls for a 34,430-square-foot yeshiva, a 14,515-square-foot dormitory and four 2,764-square-foot houses on 7 acres.

Mesifta’s representatives have said schools belong in residential areas, but opponents have argued that no one in the neighborhood would attend the school.

(Source: LoHud.com)