Overdevelopment is issue, not religionApril 7, 2008 Letter to The Journal News Paul Savad ("RLUIPA: Any review must weigh all sides," March 27 Community View) is a well-known lawyer representing the religious community in numerous large developments. Mr. Savad has even been quoted in The Journal News, in a 2007 article saying, "Hasidic women don't have driver's licenses," when questioned about the impact of a large school on the community. Whenever a new development is questioned, Mr. Savad's favorite response is it will have no impact on the area. When many of these applications are presented and the public gets to speak, no sooner do we open our mouths, when we are called anti-Semitic. Jewish or not, we are called anti-Semitic, and I, for one, have had enough. The issues we bring up are lack of infrastructure, water, wells drying up and overburdened sewers. While I am sadly aware that anti-Semitism does unfortunately exist in the world, it doesn't in Ramapo. The constant overuse of the word anti-Semitic in these instances will only serve to lessen the true importance of the word over time. Residents in the Town of Ramapo, as well as Rockland and the Lower Hudson Valley are at a crossroads: We cannot continue this unbridled growth and expect our resources to sustain it. It doesn't matter if the people bringing in these applications are polka dotted, worship a turnip, wear only stripes or walk backward, the concerns and objections are the same. Joyce Trubitz
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