By Sharon Elster, Editor
As I predicted in the Sunny Isles Beach Reporter, Issue #3 in my article, “An Attack By City Hall On Property Rights Of A Jewish House Of Worship,” a lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Temple B’Nai Zion charging the City and Mayor Norman Edelcup, with violation of the synagogue’s First and Fourteenth Amendment and Federal religious land use rights stemming from the City’s 2010 decision to designate the synagogue’s property as a historic landmark, a decision which was fiercely contested by the synagogue’s leader.
Illegal landmarking of private property has been tried before and has been defeated on appeal in Federal Courts in other cities costing taxpayers millions of dollars. We will keep our readers informed of developments in this lawsuit. We believe Temple B’Nai Zion will ultimately prevail in this matter.