Federal appeals panel hears synagogue zoning dispute
By The Associated Press
07.31.02
PHILADELPHIA — Is a house of worship more like a country club, a dog kennel or a school?
The answer could help federal judges decide whether a suburban Philadelphia township discriminated against a Reform Jewish congregation in a zoning decision.
The long-running legal battle between Congregation Kol Ami and Abington Township moved to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on July 29, as a three-judge panel peppered lawyers with questions on equal protection issues.
The case may later test the constitutionality of the 2000 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, designed to outlaw religious bias in zoning decisions. The law is being challenged in more than 30 cases around the country, but none have yet reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Congregation Kol Ami, with about 210 families, wants to buy a 10.9-acre parcel in a residential neighborhood. The property, which boasts a large main house and chapel, has been used over the years as a family estate, a monastery and a convent. Its current owner, an order of Catholic nuns, wants to sell to Kol Ami, but the sale has been held up by the zoning fight.
Some neighbors oppose the sale, fearing increased noise and traffic.
In court July 29, Kol Ami's lawyer argued that a synagogue could have a similar impact on the neighborhood as a country club, which would be allowed to apply for a zoning exception in a residential neighborhood. Under Abington's 1992 zoning plan, country clubs, dog kennels and certain other entities can apply for the waivers, but churches, hospitals and schools are restricted to nonresidential areas.
"We can't have Talmud lessons, but we could have tennis lessons on Sundays," said Anthony R. Picarello Jr., a lawyer with the Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, arguing on Kol Ami's behalf.
A district judge last year ordered the township to let the congregation apply for a special exception, a decision the township was appealing to the three-judge panel.
Marci Hamilton, a law professor at Yeshiva University's Cardozo School of Law who represents Abington, said local governments have broad powers to shape individual zoning ordinances free of federal interference.
Picarello argued that the township, through its zoning decisions, showed a bias toward mainstream religions by denying applications from new congregations.
But Chief Judge Edward R. Becker said he saw no evidence of that in the lengthy record. He said the township, in fact, has a growing Jewish population.
"I can't find any evidence that Abington Township is anti-religious, least yet anti-Jewish," Becker said.
The township, the judge said, might have justifiably weighed the potential growth of religious congregations when it wrote its zoning plan.
"What if Rabbi (Elliot) Hollin turns out to be an absolute magnet, ... and in two years the congregation turns out to triple in size?" Becker asked.
"Look what happened to the convent and the monastery. They were like the stock market. They went down. On the other hand, the synagogue might go up."
Meanwhile, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, religious center is fighting the city's zoning codes. The center claims it is protected from the zoning codes and shouldn't be forced to make improvements to practice the tenets of its faith.
Zuiko Redding, 58, a Buddhist priest with the Cedar Rapids Zen Center, has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming the city is violating the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
Redding did not want to comment on her complaint.
"I don't think the public needs to know the gory details of our disagreement," she said.
Redding decided last year to offer meditation services in her home. She first checked with her neighbors to make sure no one objected. She also checked with the city.
There were no objections, as long as she followed the city's zoning codes, said her lawyer, Randall Wilson of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union in Des Moines.
But city code requires that Redding do thousands of dollars of improvements to her home to offer the services, which Wilson said would involve three or four people. Requirements include a paved parking lot, ramps for the handicapped, reinforced floors and separate men and women's rest rooms.
"This is overkill," Wilson said.
Redding shouldn't have to make expensive changes for something that is "essentially a prayer meeting in her home," he said.
City Attorney James Fitz said he will be reviewing the complaint. Any compromise in policy must come from the Building and Zoning Commission and the City Council, he said.
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act was signed into federal law in September 2000. It prohibits zoning or land-use regulations that discriminate against religious institutions, Wilson said.
It also requires that the government show a compelling reason to justify any land-use requirement that places undue hardship on churches or religious institutions.
Taking the city to court is not something Redding relishes, Wilson said.
"It runs counter to her position not to be involved in adversarial situations," he said.