MILLBURN – It’s been almost a year since Rabbi Mendel Bogomilsky made an application to the Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a synagogue and religious center in a residential Short Hills neighborhood and there is still no end in sight to the application which is being fought by a group of residents.

Zoning hearings on the Chai Center for Living Judaism’s application to build a house of worship at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Old Short Hills Road in Short Hills will probably continue for at least another three to six months, according to Millburn’s Zoning Officer.

The next hearing in the application process is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall, but Zoning Officer Eileen Davitt said the hearings will probably go on for at least another three months and probably six months in that the Chai Center witnesses are still testifying and testimony has yet to be heard from the two opposing counsels and public comment from homeowners.

The rabbi wants to tear down two houses, located at 1 and 7 Jefferson Avenue, so a 16,350 square foot synagogue and religious center can be built in the residential Short Hills neighborhood. The combined 1.8 acre property is located in an R-3 residential zone that requires houses of worship to be situated on at least three acres. The center is requesting the approval of four variances to make the center a reality.

A group of residents who oppose the plan have banded together and formed a non-profit group called Concerned Neighborhood Association of Millburn Township, Inc. (also called Save Millburn) and they have a website, http://savemillburn.com/, which is following the case’s progress.

In addition, two neighbors who live on Jefferson Avenue have hired their own attorney to fight the application, so the rabbi is up against two legal challenges to his building plans.

According to statements on their website, Save Millburn’s opposition to the plan is a fairness and not a religious issue. They contend that no special interest group should be allowed to violate the township’s existing zoning policy.

The Zoning Board hearings on the application began in March of this year and the Zoning Board has typically been dedicating one meeting month to the Chai application. On Dec. 20, the center’s planner is expected to testify. Public comment is being held until the end of the process.

Bogomilsky did not return a call to comment on this article prior to press time, but for more information on the Chai Center, go to http://www.shorthillsshul.org/.