The ordinance unilaterally bans the construction of dormitories within the township.
JACKSON - The township council voted unanimously on Thursday night to ban the construction of dormitories within the township, the Asbury Park Press reported.
The vote comes in the wake of other nearby communities either rejecting proposed yeshivas, banning real estate solicitation and other development projects as the Orthodox Jewish population in nearby Lakewood skyrockets.
An ordinance approved by the council unilaterally banned living quarters that would be "operated as an accessory use to a school, college, university, boarding school, convent, monastery, non-profit educational institution, religious order, or other. "
A second approved ordinance restricted public and private school development to three specific zones within the township, the Asbury Park Press reported.
Opponents of the new rules argued they were rooted in anti-Semitism, the report said. However, supporters maintained that they were an attempt to preserve the quality of life in the township.
As has been the case in other towns that have taken similar actions, attorneys who have previously represented yeshivas told the Asbury Park Press that Jackson Township's new ban could be headed for a court battle.
In August, a federal judge allowed a Jewish boarding school to be sited in a residential neighborhood in Ocean Township after concluding the town's refusal of the proposed yeshiva was a violation of the yeshiva's religious rights.
Officials in Lakewood - where there is large Orthodox Jewish population and one of the largest yeshivas in the world - told the Associated Press in 2016 that the township's population was approximately 120,000.
This represented a sharp increase of more than 25,000 residents since the 2010 census listed Lakewood's population at less than 93,000 and roughly double the township's population of 60,352 in the 2000 census.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.