Extension for Special-Use Permit for Dragon Springs Temple Denied

According to a report released by the US media outlet Recordonline.com on November 16, 2012, Deerpark Planning Board members denied a six-month extension for a special-use permit for Falun Gong retreat Dragon Springs Buddhist Inc. on November 14, saying that they knew nothing about school run there.

Deerpark Planning Board members said they were never told of a performing arts college and high school being run there by the Dragon Springs Buddhist Inc. Planning Board attorney Glen Plotsky said Dragon Springs had violated its site plan by failing to show it was running Fei Tian College and Fei Tian Academy of the Arts. The college obtained an investment of three million US dollars from the Dragon Springs last year.

Kaijin Liang, president of Dragon Springs, said the group didn't think it needed to put the schools on the site plan, and said many of the students are Chinese orphans. He said Deerpark knew the group was running the schools. "Show me anywhere on your site plan where it says anything about schools or orphans and I'll eat my words," said Plotsky.

Liang said the community felt that since it's a tax-exempt, religious institution, it didn't want to burden the local school system by enrolling its students there. Plotsky said the town only found out about the schools recently from the schools' websites. The special-use permit expires this month, Plotsky said.

The massive complex, at 140 Galley Hill Road, has its own water system, drum and bell towers, a 132-foot pagoda tower, four dormitories and rehearsal halls. Originally, the site was approved for housing for 100 residents, whom Planning Board members said they thought would be Chinese monks.