A temple versus its neighbors

Posted on Sun, Jul. 31, 2005


RELIGION

A temple versus its neighbors

Religious services in homes and offices have irked local governments and residents, and the conflict is being played out in federal courts.

By JERRY BERRIOS
jberrios@herald.com

What began as a local spat over noise, traffic and trash has blossomed into a federal firestorm over religion and neighborhood rights.

An Orthodox Jewish synagogue operating in two Hollywood Hills homes has become the epicenter of an ugly quarrel that has attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice and spun off no fewer than five lawsuits.

It's the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch versus its neighbors and City Hall.

Many versions of the same conflict are being played out around the nation as houses of worship invoke a nearly 5-year-old federal law called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The legislation says municipalities cannot use zoning laws to discriminate against religious groups.

Since 2000, the Justice Department has used the law to file three lawsuits and has conducted 23 investigations into possible religious discrimination.

In Miami-Dade County, the federal law has been invoked in several municipalities.

Earlier this year, the Key Biscayne Village Council used the rule when deciding to allow its only synagogue to operate in a home on the island, despite residents' concerns about traffic and parking.

''That law played a pivotal role,'' said Rabbi Yoel Caroline of Chabad Key Biscayne Jewish Center.

COURT RULING

Last year, an appellate court ruled that Surfside violated federal law when it blocked two Orthodox Jewish congregations, Midrash Sephardi and Young Israel of Bal Harbour, from holding prayer services within the town's two-block business district.

The two congregations worship in the same place -- the second floor of the AmTrust Bank building, in a room that accommodates 150 people. Congregants enter through the back of the building. There is no sign saying it's a synagogue.

''We are talking about an invisible synagogue,'' said Simon Schwarz, an attorney for Midrash Sephardi. ``. . . Who could we possibly bother?''

Schwarz said that when governments require religious groups to seek permission to operate, they can easily discriminate against them.

''You can hide under zoning,'' Schwarz said.

In Hawaii, the Justice Department filed suit against Maui County in 2003 on behalf of the Hale O Kaula church, which wanted to build a sanctuary above a 1,792-square-foot agricultural building on nearly six acres. The church members worshiped on the first floor, where they grew organic vegetables as part of their farming ministry.

They wanted to add a second-floor sanctuary.

''We believe we are stewards of the Earth,'' said Senior Pastor David Jenkins. ``God didn't put us here to use everything up.''

When Maui County twice denied the church's request, the federal government sued -- using the new law for the first time.

The suit was settled last year, and the church got permission to build.

In California, the federal law prevailed when the 6,500-member Cottonwood Christian Center sued the city of Cypress, south of Los Angeles. City officials tried to take the church's 18 acres through eminent domain.

The center had bought the land in 1999 for $13 million, with plans to expand. The city decided it needed the property for a Costco.

After a three-year legal battle, the two sides settled, with the church selling the original 18 acres to the city for a $5.7 million profit.

The church bought another site nearby. Cottonwood is now building a huge complex.

Costco opened two weeks ago.

''When God opens the door, no man can close it,'' said Cottonwood Christian Center Assistant Pastor Tom Schulte. ``God did it.''

In the town of Bedford, N.Y., the Pine Hill Zendo Buddhist temple opened in 1999 in the quiet, single-family residential neighborhood on a dead-end street. It operated for several years before the town's zoning board tried to shut it down.

Too noisy, the town said.

''Our practice is silent meditation,'' said John Mortensen, temple leader. ``We were shut down because we generated too much noise.''

Neighbors also complained about parking, traffic and decreased property values, he said.

The temple sued the town's zoning board of appeals under state law and the religious federal law.

The two sides settled the dispute when the town placed certain restrictions on the temple's activities, such as limiting the number of people who could gather for worship at one time to 12, which is what the temple can hold.

''It is not a limitation on us,'' Mortensen said. ``It's for the town to save face.''

But not everyone agrees with the federal law.

Marci A. Hamilton, a church-state scholar and author of God vs. the Gavel, says it has caused religious tensions in neighborhoods across the country.

''Too often, when the neighbors complain, they are accused of being antireligious,'' said Hamilton, a lawyer who represents municipalities and neighborhoods in such religious cases.

Hamilton said the law gives houses of worship enormous leverage against governments, which must decide whether they can afford a pricey legal battle.

''It has moved land-use negotiation away from common sense into hostile litigation,'' she said.

Not so, says Derek L. Gaubatz, director of litigation for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C., law firm that represents houses of worship.

He said the law is making the groups work out their differences.

''Unfortunately, in many cases zoning officials are used to having the run of their fiefdoms and persistently refuse to recognize that without a place to gather for assembly and worship, there can be no right to free exercise of religion,'' Gaubatz said.

Municipalities can impose reasonable conditions, he said.

''The law doesn't give [religious groups] the ability to do whatever they want.'' he said. ``It doesn't say religious institutions . . . don't have to follow zoning laws.''

LEGAL UNCERTAINTY

It is unclear how the various lawsuits in the Hollywood case will play out.

Justice Department lawyers say Hollywood's move to oust Chabad from the residential neighborhood amounts to discrimination.

The city -- and neighbors -- disagree. It's a question of compatibility, not religion, they say.

To make matters worse, the Chabad hasn't tried to win over the neighborhood, said Will Lopez, who lives across the street from the synagogue. Noise, trash and parking problems continue, he said.

''How would you feel if your next-door neighbor had a party twice a day, 365 days a year?'' said Lopez.

But synagogue President Arthur Eckstein says the congregation wants to be a good neighbor. The city has refused to grant it permission to take care of the noise, trash and parking problems.

''They won't give a special exception,'' Eckstein said.



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