According to a tipster, a Japanese religious sect that wanted a variance to build a temple up to the lot line on a residential street in Midwood was voted down earlier this month by Community Board 14. According to DOB records, the Tenseishinbika Religious Organization, which paid $620,000 for the 50-by-100-foot lot in 2007, wanted to build a two-story building at 583 East 23rd Street in South Midwood without the required 15-foot front yard. Of course, in the end, the community board’s opinion is just that—it has no legal power to stop the project, and we all know which way the BSA leans. GMAP