In a split vote Thursday, the Waverly Twp. supervisors amended the zoning ordinance to simplify the opening or expansion of places of worship.
The amendments remove a potential roadblock from Chabad of the Abingtons’ plan to build cabins for people who visit its existing synagogue for religious retreats or to worship.
Supervisors Cheryl Lynn Murnin and Drew Christian voted to approve the amendments. Supervisor Eric Parry voted no.
“I believe in following the law,” Murnin said after the vote. “The federal law is clear, and I'm on the side for non-discrimination.”
Parry said he backed residents who spoke at a hearing before the vote.
“And they made it very clear that they were not in favor of the zoning amendment,” Parry said. “I just felt it was I thought it was in the best interest of the township to kind of hold, pause and let's take a step back and see what other options were out there and available."
Residents oppose amendments
Repeatedly, residents among the more than 30 who attended the hearing on the amendments asked the supervisors to delay the vote.
“It makes an awful lot of sense to stop, delay this, let the community understand this and have more communication about it, and then make a decision,” Warren Acker told the board. “I think when you do that, you'll have the community behind you, or you'll have less problems going forward.”
Christian made it clear the township examined all options for six months and had to vote for the amendments.
“I mean, this is not new to people who are elected to make the decision and for your benefit,” Christian said.
The zoning history
Before the amendments, the zoning ordinance required a special exception for anyone who wanted to open a place of worship in any of Waverly’s seven zoning districts. The township zoning board has to approve a special exception.
Township manager and zoning officer Christine Capozzi initially ruled Chabad had to seek the special exception. The board hosted two hearings, but Chabad’s lawyer, attorney Matt Barrett, contended the special exception requirement didn’t apply under the former zoning ordinance when Chabad opened its synagogue in 2015.
In 2015, the zoning ordinance allowed places of worship as a permitted use in each zoning district. A permitted use does not require a special exception.
Barrett contended adding the cabins amounted to extending the use permitted under the former zoning ordinance.
After two hearings, the township agreed and Capozzi issued Chabad a permit, though Chabad must still get township planning commission approval of any development plans.
The Nevilles appeal
Terrance and Margaret Neville, whose home borders Chabad’s land, appealed Capozzi’s decision to grant the permit, pointing out, among other things, the zoning board had no application from Chabad for a special exception.
The zoning board had a hearing on the appeal in March and had another scheduled for April 20. It was unclear Friday if that hearing will take place.
Barrett said Chabad is already planning to move ahead with the process.
"We already have a permit," Barrett said. "What it does to the appeal is between them (the Nevilles) and the township."
The federal implications
The matter was further complicated last fall when a township legal review determined the zoning ordinance had another problem: it violated a federal law governing religious institutions.
The law is known as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. It prohibits discrimination in zoning against religious uses.
The township zoning ordinance allowed many uses without a special exception — known as allowing a use “by right” — but required places of worship to apply for exceptions.
Even extracting oil and gas was allowed without a special exception.
The amendments passed Thursday redefine places of worship as a permitted use in each district. Other amendments adopted now require a special exception for oil and gas extraction.
Township solicitor Malcolm MacGregor told the audience the oil and gas amendments also had to do with making the ordinance comply with the federal law. He did not explain that. Efforts to reach him Friday were unsuccessful.
What happened in Kingston
The Waverly case closely resembles a case in Kingston in Luzerne County.
In recent years, Kingston’s growing Chabad Orthodox Jewish community sought a new place to worship, but the municipality’s zoning ordinance restricted them to two types of commercial districts and only on land at least an acre large.
That made finding a suitable location almost impossible, the community contended. The community asked the U.S. Department of Justice for help.
In June 2025, the department told Kingston it was violating the law forbidding religious discrimination in zoning.
In a consent order filed Feb. 4 in federal court, Kingston agreed to modify its zoning ordinance by:
- Making places of worship a permitted use in all commercial districts.
- Allowing them with a special exception rather than banning them in residential districts.
- Removing the minimum acreage and other requirements.
'Way too far'
Terrance Neville acknowledged the federal law and the Kingston case but told the supervisors the amendments go “way too far.”
“Instead of lowering the bar on the religious institutions, we can raise the bar on any comparable use which will satisfy the equal treatment considerations of the (federal) regulation,” he said.
He pointed out the Kingston ordinance will still require a special exception for places of worship in residential zones.
“The township ought to maintain, in our opinion, that special exception in residential and rural zones,” Neville said.
Chabad’s land is in a rural resource zone.
Neville suggested someone could open “a 2,000-person mega-church” if the amendments passed.
Capozzi downplayed that, pointing out a rural resource zone only allows 20% of land covered by development like a house, driveway, pool or other “impervious” uses.
Any plans will still have to go through the township planning commission and development and meet land development standards, she said.
“We have very strict and high standards to make sure that it is all followed,” Capozzi said.
Residents weigh in
Residents said they fear the amendments will change the township’s character.
“I moved away for a short period of time, and I now live in house I grew up in,” Abby Peck said. “I love this community. It's kind of storybook. And I just am a little concerned at the speed with which this is going. I think that ... we can table it and not feel like there are hounds biting at our heels.”
Resident Don Farley, a transplant from Baltimore, said much the same thing.
“Waverly has been an amazing place. It's been an amazing place to raise our child. We're less than a mile away from the (Chabad’s) Jewish Discovery Center,” Farley said. "We're just not looking for more expansion, not just there, but in general.”
Paul Horchos, a lifelong resident, had another solution: a voter referendum.
“I was thinking to myself that the best way to defuse any (legal) threat would be to allow the people of Waverly to actually vote on this proposition,” he said.
Resident Kim Barrows called the amendments “a travesty.”
“There is no reason to give carte blanche availability over a special exception. Let people go through the special exception stuff,” Barrows said.
Frank Suraci said eliminating the special exception process is “misguided.”
“What's to stop anyone from establishing their own church and deciding that now their home is a place of worship, right?” he said. “It just doesn't make any sense.”
Rushing the decision
Attorney Jeff Belardi, who has represented Keystone Sanitary Landfill in zoning matters, said the township was rushing because its fears a lawsuit.
Belardi suggested hiring an expert in the federal law to survey outcomes in other places in similar circumstances.
“The point that I'm trying to make is, if you're going to throw in the towel, if you're going to roll over, you can always do it at a later date without cost to the township,” he said.
Christian said the township hired two expert lawyers and spent thousands of dollars. Both concluded the amendments are necessary.
“We have had extensive guidance,” Christian said.
He said Kingston’s ordinance differs from Waverly’s in ways that matter.
“There's a difference between what the zones are now and what the Kingston zones are. They are not the same,” Christian said.
MacGregor said the Department of Justice pursuit of zoning discrimination against religious groups also matters.
“They’re being aggressive, and they are enforcing these things,” MacGregor said. “If you look at the history of (the federal law) from 2000 to now, there were periods where it wasn't aggressively enforced. It is being aggressively enforced right now.”
