The Supreme Court declined to consider Tuesday whether a South Florida city's zoning law barring churches and synagogues from locating in its downtown business district was unlawful.
Without comment, justices declined to review a lower court ruling that said the Surfside, Fla., law was discriminatory because it allowed similar private clubs that were nonsecular to locate downtown.
The case pitted Surfside against two Jewish synagogues, Young Israel and Midrash Sephardi, which preferred the downtown location because it was within walking distance of their members' homes. The orthodox Jewish tradition bars driving on Sabbath and the Jewish high holidays.
Surfside, which has a population of nearly 5,000, had argued its zoning law properly advanced its economic interest in generating tax revenue. If it allowed one religion to locate downtown, it would have to permit other religious groups as well, creating a wide area of low-revenue groups in the area, it said.
The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that Surfside violated federal law because it allowed nonsecular private clubs in the downtown area. Those groups are similar to religious organizations in that members meet to pursue social, educational or recreational interests, the court said.
The case Surfside v. Midrash Sephardi, 04-469.