OPINION & ORDER Plaintiff Congregation Rabbinical College of Tartikov, Inc. (“Tartikov”) is the owner of an approximately 100-acre parcel of land (the “Subject Property”) located within the Village of Pomona, New York (the “Village”), upon which it seeks to build a rabbinical college (the “Rabbinical College”) that, in addition to providing all of the facilities necessary to train rabbinical judges, will include housing for its students and their families. Rabbi Mordechai Babad, Rabbi Jacob Hershkowitz, Rabbi Meilech Menczer, and Rabbi Chaim Rosenberg (together with Tartikov, “Plaintiffs”), future students and faculty who seek to study and teach at the Rabbinical College, challenge certain zoning ordinances enacted by the Village, alleging that they are unlawful under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. §2000cc et seq., the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), 42 U.S.C. §3601 et seq., and the New York State Constitution. Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction enjoining the Village and the Board of Trustees of the Village of Pomona (the “Board,” together with the Village, “Defendants”) from enforcing specific zoning code provisions adopted through the passage of two Local Laws that the Village has refused to repeal that prohibit the construction of non-accredited educational institutions and housing for students with families on the Subject Property. Specifically, Plaintiffs challenge Local Law No. 1 of 2001 and Local Law No. 5 of 2004 (the “Challenged Laws”) with respect to “educational institutions” and “dormitories” of such institutions.1 Before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (the “Motion”) and Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction (the “PI Motion”). For the reasons that follow, the Motion is granted and the PI Motion is denied. I. Background A. Factual Background The following facts are taken from Plaintiff’s Complaint, (Compl. (Dkt. No. 1)), and the accompanying documents attached to it and are assumed true for purposes of deciding the Motions. Tartikov is a New York religious corporation formed to establish the Rabbinical College, which includes a housing component for students and their families, in Rockland County, New York. (Declaration of Chaim Babad in Supp. of Pls.’ PI Mot. (“C. Babad Decl.”)
8-10 (Dkt. No. 38); (Declaration of Michael Tauber in Supp. of Pls.’ PI Mot. (“Tauber Decl.”)
