Neighbors of a Hollywood synagogue are demanding to have their say before a judge approves a deal allowing the congregation to remain in their neighborhood.
The four homeowners filed a request in federal court Thursday asking U.S. Judge Joan Lenard to give them the chance to argue against a legal settlement between the synagogue and City Hall.
4 hope to stifle Chabad accord
As Hollywood and Chabad attorneys await approval of their settlement deal, angry neighbors are hoping to have their day in court.
Neighbors of a Hollywood synagogue are demanding to have their say before a judge approves a deal allowing the congregation to remain in their neighborhood.
The four homeowners filed a request in federal court Thursday asking U.S. Judge Joan Lenard to give them the chance to argue against a legal settlement between the synagogue and City Hall.
The move could delay the approval of the settlement, which would end the five-year-old legal dispute. The case pits the rights of worshipers to gather against the rights of a city to protect neighborhoods from problems like noise and traffic.
The city and the synagogue turned the proposed settlement over to the judge on Wednesday. The judge was expected to rule on it Thursday, but postponed a scheduled hearing.
The neighbors don’t like the deal because it would allow the synagogue to remain in two single-family homes at 2215 and 2221 N. 46th Ave. in Hollywood Hills, and to move into other houses in the area in the future. Neighbors have opposed the presence of the synagogue for years, citing noise and illegally parked cars.
The homeowners who filed the motion are Lisa Self, Heidi O’Sheehan, Richard and Carolyn Johnson and Patrick and Eva Petrillo.
All the families live within 300 feet of the congregation.
If the neighbors are allowed to intervene in the case, and can sway Lenard, the settlement could be thrown out and the city could once again be headed to trial.
Both sides said they did not mind allowing the neighbors to make their case.
”I respect their right to be heard on this issue,” said Franklin Zemel, attorney for the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch.
On Wednesday, the city agreed to allow the congregation to continue to worship out of two homes in a residential neighborhood and pay $2 million to settle complaints of religious discrimination.
The religious group is also allowed to expand to up to three other homes in a two-block area in the neighborhood.
The dispute started in 2001, when neighbors complained about noise, trash and illegally parked cars at the synagogue. Neighbors have since complained of loud parties and late-night basketball games at the synagogue.
In the latest legal filing, homeowners claim the settlement adversely affects their properties without giving them the right to have input on the decision.
They are also contesting Lenard’s decision in June to allow the Chabad to stay permanently, stating that her ruling was “unnecessarily excessive in favoring the right to freedom of religion of the Chabad at the sacrifice of a quiet residential community.”
The neighbors also criticized the City Commission for opting to settle instead of challenging the Chabad in a federal trial. The motion says the settlement “signals a deviation by the City from the interest of the neighbors.”
City Attorney Dan Abbott was unsure of what to make of the move, but said the city hasn’t changed its position on settling the case. ”If the motion is granted, it can keep the case from being resolved,” he said. “I think my direction is to try to get the case settled and until the commission tells me differently, I will try to make sure the settlement is implemented.”
