יוסטיץ דעפארטמענט זאניג רעכטען בהימ"ד

Posted on Thu, Apr. 14, 2005





Justice Department sides with Hollywood synagogue

Associated Press


HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - The Justice Department is throwing its weight behind a synagogue's long-running attempt to get a permanent home in the city.

The Justice Department has notified the city that it intends to sue unless it settles with the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch and is giving the city until April 25 to respond.

The Orthodox Jewish synagogue has been fighting city attempts to move it out of a residential neighborhood for years. City commissioners have sided with area homeowners who complain about noise, garbage, traffic and parking problems.

The federal agency maintains the city is violating a federal law that prohibits governments from making land use and zoning decisions that discriminate against religious groups.

"I don't know why the department has reached the tentative conclusion they have," City Attorney San Abbott said Wednesday. "It is obviously a disappointing development."

Under city ordinances, houses of worship can operate in a residential neighborhood only with special permission.

The city ordered the synagogue to shut down in October 2003, and the synagogue responded with a federal lawsuit seeking compensatory and possibly punitive damages.

The Justice Department maintains the city's actions violate the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act enacted in 2000. The law already has been tested on appeal.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled last year that Surfside violated the law by blocking two Orthodox Jewish congregations from holding prayer services within the town's two-block business
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/11390863.htm

Posted on Thu, Apr. 14, 2005



R E L A T E D L I N K S
• Read the letter



HOLLYWOOD CHABAD


Feds put city on defensive in its battle with synagogue

The Justice Department intends to sue Hollywood over its dispute with the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch unless the city agrees to settle.

BY JERRY BERRIOS

jberrios@herald.com


An Orthodox Jewish synagogue gained a powerful ally Wednesday when the U.S. Department of Justice told Hollywood that it plans to sue the city over a dispute with the synagogue.

The Justice Department told Hollywood City Attorney Dan Abbott that it believes the city violated a federal law that prohibits governments from making land use and zoning decisions that discriminate against religious groups.

''I don't know why the department has reached the tentative conclusion they have,'' Abbott said. ''. . . It is obviously a disappointing development.''

The Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch has been seeking to stay permanently in two Hollywood Hills homes since May 2001, causing an uproar in the neighborhood.

In June 2003, a majority of city commissioners denied permission for the synagogue to stay there, one of the events leading up to the federal government's decision to enter the legal fray.

The Justice Department will delay filing the suit if Hollywood is willing to settle the matter, according to the letter. The city has until April 25 to respond. Abbott said he will set up a closed-door session with city commissioners to discuss next steps.

Abbott said the city has abided by local, state and federal laws in its dealings with the Orthodox synagogue.

CITIZENS UPSET

Hollywood Hills residents have complained about noise, garbage, traffic and parking problems at the synagogue. They also argue that the synagogue cannot legally operate in a residential neighborhood.

Synagogue members say they have been harassed by the city and have lost members because of the treatment.

According to the city's law, houses of worship can only operate in a residential neighborhood with special permission. The city and the synagogue have been embroiled in legal wranglings in federal and state court. The U.S. Justice Department started its investigation in October 2003, after an Oct. 16 letter from Hollywood City Manager Cameron Benson ordering the worship center to stop operating.

In 2003, the synagogue also faced foreclosure, but has since regained control of its two houses at 2215 and 2221 N. 46th Ave.

Last September, the Chabad sued Hollywood and Commissioner Sal Oliveri, as an individual, in federal court alleging that they violated the synagogue's civil rights.

Last month, a federal judge ruled that Commissioner Sal Oliveri will remain a defendant in the federal suit.

The synagogue could seek compensatory and possibly punitive damages against Oliveri and the city.

''I believe that the city of Hollywood should give serious reconsideration to its unlawful practices, which have been and continue to be rubber-stamped by its city attorney,'' said Franklin Zemel, an attorney for the synagogue. ''The city's unlawful activities have caused substantial damages to the synagogue and the city faces substantial punitive damages.''

KEY CONCESSION

In a similar dispute, Key Biscayne's Village Council allowed a temple to operate out of a residence, a use not allowed in the village's zoning code. The council used a provision under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which Congress passed in 2000 -- the same law cited by the Justice Department in its letter to Hollywood.

The law has already been tested in South Florida courts. In 2004, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Surfside violated the federal law protecting religious groups when the city blocked two Orthodox Jewish congregations from holding prayer services within the town's two-block business district.

That decision marked the first time a house of worship had won a federal appeal based on the federal law. The Justice Department also got involved in that case.

Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.