A recommendation that the city commission of this. Miami suburb extend official recognition to a Jewish center as a synagogue appeared likely today to pave the way for settlement of a lengthy zoning dispute between city officials and the congregation.
The argument has involved charges from city officials that the Zamora Jewish Center had engaged in commercial activities in violation of local ordinances. A five-man committee, named at the suggestion of Rabbi B. Leon Hurwitz, spiritual leader of the center, made the recommendation after a meeting with W. Keith Phillips, Coral Gables mayor.
Alan Brown, chairman of the local zoning board, told Mayor Phillips that Zamora’s original charter in 1951 permitted it facilities “as a Youth Center.” The city attorney had asserted that the opening of a branch of the Miami Beach Hebrew Academy constituted a violation of a zoning board permit giving the center only the right to hold religious services.
Rabbi Hurwitz said that the conflict of opinion between Mr. Brown and the city attorney proved his contention that the problem was one of an “antiquated” zoning ordinance and “not any alleged violation.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
