By WINGATE PAYNE
wpayne@miamiherald.com
While the Hollywood City Commission was tying itself in knots trying settle a bitter dispute before trial with a local synagogue, Broward County quietly won a federal appellate decision concerning similar issues with a Baptist church just weeks before.
The differences between this tale of two governments were clear law, attitude and apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
In 1997, Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana of Boca Raton bought a residential property in North Broward in an agricultural zone near an existing school. County code bans two nonresidential, nonagricultural uses within 1,000 feet in rural areas.
The church applied for a variance, which the county board of adjustment rejected for not meeting its criteria. Lawsuits ensued while the church continued to meet illegally. Neighbors testified about traffic and garage sales that they considered disruptive. The church lost in federal court. On June 1, it lost its appeal.
The beginning of that tale is echoed in the dispute between the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch and the city. In 2001, Chabad moved into two adjacent houses on a four-lane residential road two blocks south of busy Sheridan Street in Hollywood Hills.
Things quickly became contentious. Chabad let the property run down, and city officials say it misrepresented its intentions for use of the homes. Neighbors were furious.
Chabad then applied for a special exception, which permits such a use in a residential zone if a property meets certain criteria but then only at the city's discretion. The commission denied the exception but permitted Chabad to stay for a year so it could find a place in the many areas that would permit it.
Chabad fought to stay although it never became the good neighbor it had promised to be. (To this day, its property is shabby). The neighbors took to spying on its gatherings.
Enter City Commissioner Sal Oliveri who represents Hollywood Hills. He pushed for and got ever stricter law and code enforcement, leaving the city open to charges of selective enforcement. A cooler head at City Hall should have been sensitive to the line being crossed to harassment.
Hovering over this are the apparitions of the Virgin Mary. In 1994, Rosa López began to tell people about visitations from the Virgin on the 13th of every month in her home. Her house, distinguished by an exuberant use of concrete religious statutes, is on a two-lane road deep in a residential area (and not in Oliveri's district). For some time, her house was mobbed month ly. Neighbors were furious but to no avail.
The apparitions continue, and she posts daily visiting hours. She has no special exception; she does have a champion in Oliveri.
To little surprise, Chabad sued in federal court on grounds similar to those raised by Primera Iglesia Bautista but began to win. A pretrial ruling held the special-exception process was unconstitutionally vague. It also won the right to sue Oliveri personally; elected officials usually are personally immune from suit for official actions. The city's lawyers hinted strongly that Chabad might collect millions at trial. Things were indeed sticky.
Among the items that the city could surrender as a result both through pretrial judicial orders and its offers to settle the suit is effective control over zoning in Hollywood Hills. Chabad could stay and expand and not just to adjacent lots. No one in the surrounding area around Chabad would know what may come next door or across the street, an issue that may lead to more lawsuits. Chabad likely will receive at least $2 million from the city's insurer, and the city already is stung with thousands expended on legal costs.
Federal law and the First Amendment require that governments not place a ''substantial burden'' on the free exercise of religion without a ''compelling government interest.'' Churches may serve children communion wine, for instance, without violating the law.
Federal law requires only equality in land-use laws for religious institutions, not the right to go where they please. It also requires that zoning laws don't permit ''individualized assessments,'' a bar to discretion Hollywood style.
With the Bush administration's active enforcement of this federal law, including intervention in Hollywood, and the aggressiveness of religious groups in buying into residential areas, local governments should make sure their policies and procedures -- and politics -- follow the law and maintain a careful balance between neighborhood and religious rights. That's a lesson to be paid for in cash and disruption by Hollywood taxpayers and Hollywood Hills residents.
wpayne@miamiherald.com
While the Hollywood City Commission was tying itself in knots trying settle a bitter dispute before trial with a local synagogue, Broward County quietly won a federal appellate decision concerning similar issues with a Baptist church just weeks before.
The differences between this tale of two governments were clear law, attitude and apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
In 1997, Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana of Boca Raton bought a residential property in North Broward in an agricultural zone near an existing school. County code bans two nonresidential, nonagricultural uses within 1,000 feet in rural areas.
The church applied for a variance, which the county board of adjustment rejected for not meeting its criteria. Lawsuits ensued while the church continued to meet illegally. Neighbors testified about traffic and garage sales that they considered disruptive. The church lost in federal court. On June 1, it lost its appeal.
The beginning of that tale is echoed in the dispute between the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch and the city. In 2001, Chabad moved into two adjacent houses on a four-lane residential road two blocks south of busy Sheridan Street in Hollywood Hills.
Things quickly became contentious. Chabad let the property run down, and city officials say it misrepresented its intentions for use of the homes. Neighbors were furious.
Chabad then applied for a special exception, which permits such a use in a residential zone if a property meets certain criteria but then only at the city's discretion. The commission denied the exception but permitted Chabad to stay for a year so it could find a place in the many areas that would permit it.
Chabad fought to stay although it never became the good neighbor it had promised to be. (To this day, its property is shabby). The neighbors took to spying on its gatherings.
Enter City Commissioner Sal Oliveri who represents Hollywood Hills. He pushed for and got ever stricter law and code enforcement, leaving the city open to charges of selective enforcement. A cooler head at City Hall should have been sensitive to the line being crossed to harassment.
Hovering over this are the apparitions of the Virgin Mary. In 1994, Rosa López began to tell people about visitations from the Virgin on the 13th of every month in her home. Her house, distinguished by an exuberant use of concrete religious statutes, is on a two-lane road deep in a residential area (and not in Oliveri's district). For some time, her house was mobbed month ly. Neighbors were furious but to no avail.
The apparitions continue, and she posts daily visiting hours. She has no special exception; she does have a champion in Oliveri.
To little surprise, Chabad sued in federal court on grounds similar to those raised by Primera Iglesia Bautista but began to win. A pretrial ruling held the special-exception process was unconstitutionally vague. It also won the right to sue Oliveri personally; elected officials usually are personally immune from suit for official actions. The city's lawyers hinted strongly that Chabad might collect millions at trial. Things were indeed sticky.
Among the items that the city could surrender as a result both through pretrial judicial orders and its offers to settle the suit is effective control over zoning in Hollywood Hills. Chabad could stay and expand and not just to adjacent lots. No one in the surrounding area around Chabad would know what may come next door or across the street, an issue that may lead to more lawsuits. Chabad likely will receive at least $2 million from the city's insurer, and the city already is stung with thousands expended on legal costs.
Federal law and the First Amendment require that governments not place a ''substantial burden'' on the free exercise of religion without a ''compelling government interest.'' Churches may serve children communion wine, for instance, without violating the law.
Federal law requires only equality in land-use laws for religious institutions, not the right to go where they please. It also requires that zoning laws don't permit ''individualized assessments,'' a bar to discretion Hollywood style.
With the Bush administration's active enforcement of this federal law, including intervention in Hollywood, and the aggressiveness of religious groups in buying into residential areas, local governments should make sure their policies and procedures -- and politics -- follow the law and maintain a careful balance between neighborhood and religious rights. That's a lesson to be paid for in cash and disruption by Hollywood taxpayers and Hollywood Hills residents.
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