An orthodox Jewish synagogue that has been barred from opening an outreach center in Cooper City’s commercial district is suing the city, claiming the municipality’s zoning laws are illegal and designed to protect its ad valorem tax base, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court on Friday. 

“Coooper City has a complete citywide ban in all commercial areas,” said Fort Lauderdale attorney Franklin Zemel, who is representing the Chabad of Nova, which is temporarily operating in Davie. “If you’re an adult bookstore, you can operate in a commercial district, but if you’re a religious organization, you can not.”

According to the lawsuit, the city has discriminated against houses of worship for 30 years by relegating them to the western, agriculturally-zoned borders of Cooper City in order to protect its valuable tax base.

Zemel is the same attorney who successfully represented Chabad Lubavitch in its fight to operate a synagogue in two Hollywood Hills homes. After years of legal wrangling, Chabad Lubavitch received a $2 million settlement from the city’s insurance company and the right to gradually expand without having to apply for a special permit.

But Zemel said on Friday the Cooper City case is completely different because it involves a citywide ban prohibiting all religious assemblies from all commercial districts in the city.

“It’s about money in Cooper City,” Zemel said. “This is not a situation where a synagogue is looking to move into a neighborhood.

“How does a place of worship begin if there’s not a storefront in the city a place of worship can move into?” Zemel asked. “And if you want to put it into a private home, you have to put it into a house with 300 feet of frontage.”

Last October, Cooper City relaxed its ordinance by including houses of worship in office parks and recreational facilities, but the commercial district ban remained. Zemel said Rabbi Shmuel Posner opened a Chabad Outreach Center in the Timberlake shopping plaza last year, but was booted out by Cooper City because of its codes. Posner has temporarily moved the outreach center to 8276 Griffin Road in Davie.

Posner, who had hoped to serve students from Nova and Broward Community College with the outreach center, said his facility needs to be located close to its congregants because orthodox Jews are forbidden to drive from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.

“You need to go to a synagogue you can walk to,” Posner said. “We moved to that area to make it possible to be able to fulfill the dream and to abide by (Jewish) law. It’s upsetting.”

Cooper City Commissioner Elliot Kleiman said he could not comment on the lawsuit, but said the city’s ordinance is not discriminatory.

“We’re not discriminating against religious institutions,” says Kleiman, who said the city has to have controls in place to discourage the proliferation of certain types of uses in any particular area. “Houses of worship are allowed in the proper areas.”

In 2000, Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, designed to give religious groups power to fight local zoning ordinances. Under the act, the federal government can sue a city if it finds discrimination.

Cooper City attorney Alan Ruf said he is confident the city’s ordinance complies with federal law, based on their review.

But Zemel said Cooper City’s law is problematic because it doesn’t provide for special exceptions, and the city has refused to consider such.

“Cooper City treats religious assembly as if it were toxic,” Zemel said. The feeral lawsuit is seeking to have enforcement of the existing zoning laws halted, in addition to monetary damages and attorneys fees and costs.

The Hollywood Chabad fight started in 2003, after city officials canceled a special permit allowing the group to operate in two single-family homes. The suit claimed Hollywood discriminated because it allowed other religious organizations in residential areas. Ultimately, the city was required to rewrite part of its zoning laws, which were declared unconstitutional and at the heart of the lawsuit.

Hollywood city officials defended their actions by saying they were only responding to complaints from neighbors and enforcing city zoning codes. The issue was a contentious one, that drew the ire of neighbors who didn’t want the synagogue in their midst.

SSC