BY BREANNE GILPATRICK
bgilpatrick@MiamiHerald.com
Rabbi Shmuel Posner has spent years trying to reopen his Chabad outreach center in a Griffin Road shopping center.
Although proposed Cooper City zoning changes still would prevent him from returning the orthodox center to its former storefront home, it would give him more options in picking a new location.
Cooper City commissioners tonight will introduce zoning changes to allow churches and other places of worship in office parks and park/recreation districts. This would allow places of worship like Posner's outreach center, Chabad Nova, to open in office buildings or in city parks and recreation areas. The changes still would not allow them in commercial districts, like shopping centers or retail developments, where the city does not permit places of worship or community assembly.
Franklin Zemel, Posner's attorney, said although he has not seen the wording of the proposed changes, he remains skeptical.
''Cooper City appears to be demonstrating quality leadership in attempting to fix its unlawful code before it gets sued,'' he wrote in an e-mail. ``Whether its code will be lawful and even if so, how the city will remedy its past discrimination remains to be seen.''
Last year, Posner briefly opened the facility at 8606 Griffin Rd. to cater to Nova Southeastern University students. But it was shut down by city code enforcement. He has been unsuccessful in obtaining an occupational license.
Chabad Lubavitch is a once-obscure branch of orthodox, Hasidic Judaism, now attracting thousands. Because members are forbidden to drive from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, Chabad centers like Posner's must be within walking distance of members, sometimes bringing them into conflict with local governments.
MALLS STILL OFF-LIMITS
But Cooper City has no plans to change its commercial zoning to include places of worship, Assistant City Manager Susan Bernard said. The traffic that retail or commercial developments generate makes them too dangerous to share space with a place of assembly where many pedestrians enter and exit at the same time, Bernard said.
Posner has enlisted Zemel, who also represented the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch in its fight against the city of Hollywood over its operating in two Hollywood houses.
The proposed Cooper City changes come two months after Hollywood paid about $2 million to settle that suit but the timing is simply a coincidence, city officials said.
''It's night and day,'' said John Naclerio III, an assistant city attorney. ``Hollywood has no bearing on Cooper City.''
The proposed changes to the other zoning districts simply are designed to bring Cooper City in line with the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by treating religious and nonreligious assembly the same in its zoning code. Nonreligious community assembly already is allowed in both office parks and park/recreation districts. Places of worship currently are limited to agricultural, rural residential and single-family residential districts.
TOO LATE?
The city has said it ''will do everything possible to expedite the permitting process'' if Posner finds ''a suitable permitted location,'' Naclerio wrote in a Sept. 20 letter.
The changes could help Posner find a new location by expanding his options, City Commissioner Brad Roper said.
''It really makes it easier for the Chabad,'' he said.
Posner's Chabad might have considered moving to an office park, but the changes might be too late, Zemel said. Chabad has already moved to a temporary location outside Cooper City. The two large rooms in the center at the corner of Griffin and Pine Island roads now sit empty, the remnants of Chabad Nova's painted sign on the front windows. In a Sept. 20 letter, the city denied Posner's request to hold high holiday services in the shopping center.
''This is where the damage is already done,'' Zemel said. ``Fixing it now doesn't help.''
bgilpatrick@MiamiHerald.com
Rabbi Shmuel Posner has spent years trying to reopen his Chabad outreach center in a Griffin Road shopping center.
Although proposed Cooper City zoning changes still would prevent him from returning the orthodox center to its former storefront home, it would give him more options in picking a new location.
Cooper City commissioners tonight will introduce zoning changes to allow churches and other places of worship in office parks and park/recreation districts. This would allow places of worship like Posner's outreach center, Chabad Nova, to open in office buildings or in city parks and recreation areas. The changes still would not allow them in commercial districts, like shopping centers or retail developments, where the city does not permit places of worship or community assembly.
Franklin Zemel, Posner's attorney, said although he has not seen the wording of the proposed changes, he remains skeptical.
''Cooper City appears to be demonstrating quality leadership in attempting to fix its unlawful code before it gets sued,'' he wrote in an e-mail. ``Whether its code will be lawful and even if so, how the city will remedy its past discrimination remains to be seen.''
Last year, Posner briefly opened the facility at 8606 Griffin Rd. to cater to Nova Southeastern University students. But it was shut down by city code enforcement. He has been unsuccessful in obtaining an occupational license.
Chabad Lubavitch is a once-obscure branch of orthodox, Hasidic Judaism, now attracting thousands. Because members are forbidden to drive from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, Chabad centers like Posner's must be within walking distance of members, sometimes bringing them into conflict with local governments.
MALLS STILL OFF-LIMITS
But Cooper City has no plans to change its commercial zoning to include places of worship, Assistant City Manager Susan Bernard said. The traffic that retail or commercial developments generate makes them too dangerous to share space with a place of assembly where many pedestrians enter and exit at the same time, Bernard said.
Posner has enlisted Zemel, who also represented the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch in its fight against the city of Hollywood over its operating in two Hollywood houses.
The proposed Cooper City changes come two months after Hollywood paid about $2 million to settle that suit but the timing is simply a coincidence, city officials said.
''It's night and day,'' said John Naclerio III, an assistant city attorney. ``Hollywood has no bearing on Cooper City.''
The proposed changes to the other zoning districts simply are designed to bring Cooper City in line with the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by treating religious and nonreligious assembly the same in its zoning code. Nonreligious community assembly already is allowed in both office parks and park/recreation districts. Places of worship currently are limited to agricultural, rural residential and single-family residential districts.
TOO LATE?
The city has said it ''will do everything possible to expedite the permitting process'' if Posner finds ''a suitable permitted location,'' Naclerio wrote in a Sept. 20 letter.
The changes could help Posner find a new location by expanding his options, City Commissioner Brad Roper said.
''It really makes it easier for the Chabad,'' he said.
Posner's Chabad might have considered moving to an office park, but the changes might be too late, Zemel said. Chabad has already moved to a temporary location outside Cooper City. The two large rooms in the center at the corner of Griffin and Pine Island roads now sit empty, the remnants of Chabad Nova's painted sign on the front windows. In a Sept. 20 letter, the city denied Posner's request to hold high holiday services in the shopping center.
''This is where the damage is already done,'' Zemel said. ``Fixing it now doesn't help.''
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