Encino : Fight Continues Over Synagogue at Home

When the Los Angeles City Council ruled in June that an Orthodox Jewish congregation must stop using an Encino home as its synagogue, neighbor Hollice A. Favors and others rejoiced.

“We thought, that’s going to be the end of it,” Favors said earlier this month. But to the residents’ dismay, the Sephardic Jewish Center continues to operate out of the two-bedroom house near Ventura Boulevard and Lindley Avenue.

The synagogue claims that some of its neighbors support its continued operation there. But residents such as Favors say that a house of worship does not belong in a residential area and that congregants continue to cause parking and traffic congestion on their streets as well as noise problems.

Capping more than 13 months of confrontational public hearings on the matter, the City Council on June 28 ordered the synagogue to close by Oct. 31.

In October, the congregation applied for a city permit seeking to legally use the house as a synagogue, but that request was denied in November by a city zoning official. The congregation has appealed.

The synagogue is “absolutely” in violation of the City Council’s order, said Bonnie Kopp, planning aide to City Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents the area.

“It sends a very bad message to the citizens of Los Angeles when they pursue a remedy all the way up to the City Council, and the [council’s order] is ignored,” Kopp said.

However, Fred Gaines, attorney for the synagogue, said that the congregation has complied with the City Council’s order. Gaines said temple activities have been limited to small daily prayer services and some religious classes.

“They’re not running a school there; they’re not running commercial activities. People are going to the house and are praying,” Gaines said. “That’s a perfectly legal thing to do in anybody’s house.”

The city Building and Safety Department has prepared a report on the situation and referred the matter to the city attorney’s office for possible prosecution, according to Deputy City Atty. Rick Schmidt.