Seeking to ban Chabad House in Cooper City

COOPER CITY, FL — Faced with a lawsuit charging that the city discriminates against houses of worship, Cooper City commissioners appear ready to place similar limits on secular, crowd-gathering institutions: movie theaters and vocational schools.

First, Cooper City banned houses of worship, which are tax-exempt, from its business district.

Now, movie theaters, indoor recreational centers and vocational schools might be added to the prohibited list in some parts of the city.

The move appears aimed at dodging charges that the city’s zoning rules discriminate against houses of worship. By banning movie theaters and other places of assembly from business districts, the city would signal that it treats similar facilities the same whether they are religious or secular.

Most of the city’s 18 houses of worship are located on a stretch of Flamingo Road dubbed Church Row. All houses of worship are in the agriculture-zoned area.

If passed, movie theaters would be banned from developments, including the Cooper City Commons on Sheridan Street. Vocational schools would be banned from Embassy Lakes Shopping Center, a planned commercial development district on Hiatus Road.

City commissioners are scheduled to vote on a preliminary version of such a ban at its 7:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall, 9090 SW 50th Pl.

The city’s move follows a lawsuit filed by a rabbi who alleged discrimination after city officials denied him an occupational license.

PLAN THWARTED

In the fall of 2005, Rabbi Shmuel Posner tried to open Chabad of Nova outreach center at 8608 Griffin Rd. at Timberlake Plaza.

But Cooper City wouldn’t permit it, saying places of worship are not allowed in commercial areas.

Posner’s lawyer, Franklin Zemel, won a $2 million settlement for another Chabad group that fought the city of Hollywood in July 2006. Hollywood had denied members of the Orthodox Jewish sect from running a synagogue in a residential neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Posner has relocated to a soon-to-be demolished, 900-square-foot office in Davie.

”We want to have the option to move back,” Posner said of the Cooper City locale. “Every weekend that I’m conducting services, I’m thanking God that I have a place. But I don’t know what I’m going to do next week.”

PLAN DEFENDED

Cooper City’s move to ban movie theaters from its business district is consistent with its codes, said Susan Bernard, a city clerk.

She said Michael Burke, the attorney representing the city in the Chabad case, suggested the changes even though there are no movie theaters in Cooper City.

”They’re only prohibited in certain zoning districts,” Bernard said. “[Burke] pointed out that there were inconsistencies in our code, and we’re attempting to correct that. We are not banning movie theaters. We are restricting them from certain zoning districts.”

Burke declined to comment. But Zemel said the move could violate free speech.

”The city is trampling on everyone’s rights just to keep religious assembly out of its business district,” he said.

But Marc Rohr, professor of law at Nova Southeastern University who specializes in First Amendment law, said cities have to show they are content-neutral when making land-use changes.

”Case law has suggested that religious land-uses can’t be treated differently from other comparable uses of land,” Rohr said.