Haddonfield Commissioners Approve Nativity Scene at Library Point

The Haddonfield Board of Commissioners unanimously approved two requests for religious displays at Library Point on Haddon Avenue and Tanner Street at its regular meeting on Tuesday.

The displays will include a Hanukkah menorah and a Christian Nativity scene. The menorah has been erected for the past several years. The Nativity scene is new.

A local group called the Citizens for a Christian Christmas asked the commissioners for permission to erect the display, which is expected to be less than 5 feet tall, as a symbol of Christianity.

"The Christmas tree is not a Christian symbol," one of the members said at a commissioners meeting last month.

Mayor Tish Colombi said Tuesday municipalities are not allowed to erect religious symbols on public property, but it can allow private groups to do so. The borough did sponsor its annual Christmas tree lighting at Library Point on Nov. 25.

In other borough news, the commissioners also unanimously approved the continuance of a local Open Space Tax. The tax was approved by a referendum in November. The borough has had an Open Space Tax for the last five years, but it was set to expire at the end of the year.

The new tax will not exceed 1¢ per $100 of assessed property tax value and has usually been assessed at a half-cent per $100 of value.