CLO SE U P
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the years, churches and synagogues have
been treated similarly. Most didn't
receive instant approval. In each case,
trustees and planning commissioners
questioned sizes of buildings, parking
capabilities and the possibility that such
buildings would generate too much traffic
for the area.
Before Beth Abraham Hillel Moses was
approved in 1970, the planning commis-
sion tabled it and approved a revised plan
three months later. In the same manner,
planning commissioners tabled the
Prince of Peace Catholic Church in 1974,
approving a revised plan a month later.
Trustees approved each site plan with
little difficulty.
Temple Israel faced more trouble than
most other religious facilities. Denied in
1973 because of concerns over size and
scope of the building and traffic, temple
leaders took the case to court. An Oak-
land County judge gave court approval
four years later to build a synagogue on
the 23-acre site on Walnut Lake Road.
"This has been very heated, very emo-
tional. But religion isn't an issue," Draur
says. "There have been other things de-
nied, even the Chaldean church. It
wouldn't have mattered if it had been
that church, a grocery store or a syn-
agogue. I don't care who you are or what
you are. Things in West Bloomfield will
be based on the merit of the project."
Adds Janet Lynn, a 35-year West
Bloomfield resident who was active in
earlier movements to better plan for de-
velopment, "There are so many houses of
worship here that have already been
taken off the tax rolls. How do you think
all of this got here if there is anti-
Semitism?
"It is not fair to attribute what is hap-
pening to anti-Semitism," Lynn says. "If
there were institutional anti-Semitism, I
would know it. You can smell it. You can
taste it. You can sense it."
Anti-Semitism or not, B'nai Moshe is
suing the township to build on 15 acres off
Drake Road, south of Maple. The majority
of township trustees have repeatedly
voted to deny B'nai Moshe's special use
request, saying it would disrupt the
orderly development of a piece of property
to the south. A court date has not been
set.
Lubavitch Town
ANOTHER GROUP, THE LUBAVITCH
Foundation, owns 40 acres of land on West
Maple Road, adjacent to the Jewish Com-
munity Campus. Lubavitch wants to build
a religious retreat for the Midwestern
region. Included would be a rabbinical col-
lege, parks, a Judaica library, Jewish art
museum and centers for Soviet Jews, day
care and the elderly.
In a complex political move that baffles
many residents, among them trustee
Judith Holtz, trustees last week approved
an ordinance that essentially prohibits
colleges and universities from building in
the township — unless constructed in an
industrial park area.
The Lubavitch property is zoned
residential. Under the old ordinance, a
college could be built in a residential area
with a special use permit. Now chances
are slim that trustees will rezone the
property since the majority say they don't
want industrial land in the township. In
fact, the board has been trying to rezone
the township's few hundred remaining
acres of industrial land to residential.
As their motives are
being questioned, the
West Bloomfield Board
of Trustees conducts
business as usual.
JCC Executive
Director Mort Plotnick
is discussing plans for
the May 6 Walk for
Israel.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
25