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The Buddhist Monastery in Newtown: Photo by Lori Amann-Chetcuti A dispute in Newtown between the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut and its neighbors has zoning board officials wrestling with questions of religious freedom and land use.

Neighbors have filed a zoning complaint against the Cambodian Buddhist Society alleging that its members are breaking the law by holding religious festivals on their nine and half acre property. Newtown zoning regulations require a special exception permit for such uses.

But the Buddhists deny the claim, saying there have been no organized festivals at the site. Their attorney Mike Ziska doesn’t deny that there have been a number of cars on the property, but says that the complaint stems from a cultural misunderstanding resulting from the Cambodian tradition of bringing the monks gifts on holidays:

Boggs Hill Road in Newtown: Photo by Lori Amann-Chetcuti "It's no different than anybody going to visit anybody else. Let's say somebody wanted to have a summer picnic at their property. And suddenly twenty cars show up, friends of theirs who wouldn't normally be there. That's no more of a festival than anything else. And yet, nobody would blink an eye at that. But if the Buddhists do it, people are out there gunning for them right away.”

In 2005, the Buddhist Society lost a religious discrimination lawsuit against Newtown over its refusal to let them build a temple on the property. But the neighbors say this case has never been about religion. Resident Elizabeth Lincoln says they are simply trying to protect their property.

“When they have a weekend gathering that counts maybe seventy cars, sixty cars, twenty-four cars, then that presents a problem, not only from traffic safety, but here again from the water and the septic. That property does not have the capacity to handle that kind of use.”

The town's zoning enforcement officer has issued a cease and desist order, and the Bhuddist Society has appealed. Newtown officials have about two months to respond.