On June 3 the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Konikov v. Orange County ruled in favor of a Chabad Rabbi who had been charged with violating the Orange County Florida zoning code. The Rabbi, head of Chabad of South Orlando, was charged with operating a “religious organization” in a residential district without obtaining a special exception from the County Board of Zoning Adjustment.
While rejecting the Rabbi’s facial challenge to the zoning ordinance, the Court accepted his argument that, as applied, he was not being treated on an equal basis with non-religious organizations in violation of Sec. 2(b) of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Non-religious social groups could meet two to three times per week at a home without a special exception; but a permit was required when a religious organization did the same thing. The Court also accepted the Rabbi’s due process challenge to the zoning ordinance. It did not define “religious organization.” Also there was a risk of discriminatory enforcement because too much discretion was delegated to enforcement officials to determine how many meetings in a home would constitute a code violation.
