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A proposed 4,000-square-foot addition would enable the Summit Jewish Community Center to hold bar and bat mitzvahs for its ever-growing 310-family congregation. But four zoning hearings later, the SJCC is still waiting to go ahead with the project. After Summit’s Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the building with 29 conditions last December, plans to break ground this summer were put on ice by an appeal from 45 neighbors looking “to preserve the integrity of the existing single-family residential areas by maintaining existing development intensity and population density,” according to a civil complaint.

The case will be heard Oct. 30 by New Jersey Superior Court of Union County in Elizabeth, and if the legal process pushes into the winter, it could delay construction for as long as six months to a year, said Richard Barron, past president of the SJCC and co-chair of the expansion committee.

In 2003, the SJCC purchased two lots adjacent to its current 7,000-square-foot facility, one of them empty and one with a Victorian house in disrepair. The new building will include a new sanctuary with seating for 294 congregants, three additional classrooms, and a multi-purpose room to serve as the social hall the Conservative synagogue never had. The expansion’s projected cost is $2.5-3 million.

“People really want to have our simchas (Jewish celebrations) at the synagogue, but we just can’t accommodate them right now,” Barron said.

“Our neighbors somehow think that ‘if we build it they will come’,” he added. “We didn’t build it for that. We had outgrown our current facility.”

The complaint describes the area surrounding the SJCC, at the corner of Morris Avenue and Kent Place Boulevard in Summit, as a “fragile neighborhood” that is “part of a proposed historic district.” Any construction plan should maintain “a compatible relationship between the new or expanded houses and traditional neighborhood houses that reflect the best of neighborhood character, particularly in terms of scale, siting, design features and orientation,” the complaint states.

Barron, however, noted that several other Victorian homes in the area have already been converted into boarding schools. “I think a lot of the neighbors are really just scared of change,” Barron said.

The JCC met with the city engineer as well as the fire, police, and forestry departments to make sure the plan was sensitive to neighbors, Barron said. The fact that four zoning hearings were held on the property shows that the city performed a careful examination before approving the plan, he said.

Conditions for the project’s zoning approval included variances for a house of worship on a lot less than the required two acres (the SJCC’s new lot is 1.86 acres), a proposed front yard setback of 35.9 feet (50 feet is required), lot coverage of 42.79 percent (40 percent is the maximum permitted), and 50 parking spaces where at least 98 are required for a synagogue of the SJCC’s size.

The complaint also cites a statement by Rabbi Avi Friedman during the zoning hearing that he envisions 18-20 bar or bat mitzvahs a year at the synagogue, compared with the SJCC’s indication of 10 per year on its zoning application.

Summit’s zoning board approved the property by a 5-2 vote. The complaint notes statements by board members who voted yes but expressed some ambivalence, including Pamela Gumport, who said: “I guess I am going to vote yes for this, but I am still very concerned that this is going to be one of those cases I regret, but you can put me down as a yes.”

From the zoning hearings, Barron recalled that one board member asked, “Where do you think our religious institutions ought to be?” to point out that houses of worship should be integrated into the fabric of neighborhoods like the SJCC is, rather than located on the outskirts of town.

Roger Mehner, attorney for the SJCC, confirmed that construction is completely stalled until the case is heard Oct. 30. “Our view is that the approvals were done properly and we hope the court agrees with us,” Mehner said.

The SJCC, Summit’s oldest congregation, celebrated its 80th anniversary in June.

“Our synagogue has been there a lot longer than any of the neighbors,” Barron said.