2010-0902 Special City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting September 2, 20 I 0 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida when they are part of the integral fabric of a District. She went over the site and building and noted that the sanctuary is shaped like a cross, and the grace window is so much more apparent since the arc was moved for the remodeling. She also went through the City's Historic Preservation Board's efforts throughout the years. She noted that the City's Comprehensive Plan has all the required elements, but there is no optional element addressing historic preservation. She urged the Commission to overturn the recommendation by the Historic Preservation Board to designate Temple B'Nai Zion as historic. Mr. Crockett said that Ms. Dumas mentioned that there was a partnering relationship between the Temple and other congregations, and asked her to elaborate, and Ms. Dumas said it was her understanding that the Temple is allowing another congregation to lease a portion of it. Mr. Crockett asked her if she knew whether or not there is a lease that the second congregation has, and Ms. Dumas said she has no idea but she knows they were not using the main sanctuary because of the impediment of the direction it faces, they were temporarily using the other building until these renovations were completed, they had moved the arc and all the seating into that building on a temporary basis. Mr. Crockett said that those changes to change the orientation to correct it are being made, is that correct? Ms. Dumas said they are underway but the seating capacity is diminished and that is a concern because the Orthodox community is growing and they need greater capacity in order to service their community. Mr. Crockett said that the changes that were applied for are being made notwithstanding historic designation, and Ms. Dumas said yes as far as she knows. Rabbi Aaron Lankry, President of Temple B'Nai Zion, gave some background information on how he came to this Temple and its history with the City. He said the Temple has no interest in being declared historic. Mr. Poliakoff introduced Dan Wallach of his firm to present some legal standards. Mr. Wallach said he wanted to raise a legal issue that was raised in the Temple's appeal filed with the City Clerk on July 6,2010. On August 25 the City Attorney responded to the appeal and distributed a memorandum to each of the City Commissioners, and he wanted to address one point that was raised in that memorandum, the issue of selective enforcement cannot be overstated. It does not require that the Temple prove that there was purposeful discrimination, it just requires, and there is a federal law called RLUIP A which is the Religious, Land Use, and Institutionalized Person Act of 1990, and it states that no government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in the manner that treats a religious assembly or institution on less than equal terms with a nonreligious institution or assembly. A Federal Appeals Court in this area, the 11 th Circuit US Court of Appeals, in the case of Midrash Sephardi v. Town of Surfs ide, stated that this statutory command requires equal treatment of secular and religious institutions. What we have here is the first original designation of a site or building in the City's history, yet by contrast the City has refrained from designating other properties with far greater historical significance such as St. Mary Magdalen Church, and also Ocean Palm and the Golden Strand, given the architecture, the date of construction, and its history in the community, and yet those are not being designated. It is a treatment on less than equal terms than what the Temple is being treated with, and each of those institutions, the Golden Strand in particular, objected to the designation and they were removed from the list of possibilities of being designated as an historic site. By 5