SSC: The city may have to erase an entire section of its zoning laws after a federal judge in Miami said Wednesday she plans to rule on behalf of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue that claims the laws are unconstitutional and too vague.U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard called attorneys representing the city and the Hollywood Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch to tell them she plans to rule in the synagogue’s favor and will put it in writing within the next couple of weeks, lawyers on both sides said.

The zoning codes are at the heart of a pending discrimination lawsuit filed by the Chabad and the U.S. Department of Justice claiming city officials violated the religious group’s constitutional rights by denying it an exception in 2003 to operate within a residential neighborhood.Attorneys representing the Chabad went before the judge last week and asked her to review the city codes and determine whether they are constitutional. City Attorney Dan Abbott said the judge’s comments essentially erase the rules governing how special permits are issued. The ruling may also affect about a dozen other religious groups that currently have special permission to operate in residential neighborhoods.