Chabad of Nova, an outreach center now operating in Davie, filed the lawsuit in May, saying city zoning laws forced the congregation out of the city by unfairly limiting where the center could operate. Until October 2006, houses of worship were generally limited to the agriculturally zoned areas in western Cooper City. And they are still banned from most shopping districts and from most residential neighborhoods.
Bias Lawsuit Against Cooper City can Proceed in part
COOPER CITY, FL — A federal judge decided this week that parts of a religious discrimination lawsuit that an Orthodox Jewish synagogue filed against Cooper City can move forward.
Chabad of Nova, an outreach center now operating in Davie, filed the lawsuit in May, saying city zoning laws forced the congregation out of the city by unfairly limiting where the center could operate. Until October 2006, houses of worship were generally limited to the agriculturally zoned areas in western Cooper City. And they are still banned from most shopping districts and from most residential neighborhoods.
In June, the city asked to have the case dismissed. But on Monday, U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga ruled that at least three of the cases eight counts could move forward.
The city has said it tried to accommodate the outreach center and changed its zoning laws last year to allow houses of worship in office plazas. And the judge ruled that these changes could allow portions of the lawsuit to be dismissed.
But the outreach center’s lawyer, Franklin Zemel, who won a $2 million settlement in a similar religious discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a Hollywood synagogue, argues the changes still prevent houses of worship from getting a foothold in the city. For example, he explains, new churches and synagogues often need to rent space in a home or strip mall, a practice banned in Cooper City.
Chabad of Nova opened at 8608 Griffin Rd. in fall 2005, but the outreach center had to relocate when the city wouldn’t give it permission to stay.
