Siobhan McLaughlin shows the signs she and some of her neighbors have placed in their front yards in Southlake Hollywood. They are fighting back against plans to tear down a house and replace it with a nonresidential religious building.
“This is a single-family home that the applicants are asking to be demolished and replaced with a non-residential building; the residents do not think it’s appropriate,” McLaughlin said.
Proposed building is a Jewish Mikvah
The proposed building is a Mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath used for spiritual cleansing. The design presented to the planning board shows a modern building with five parking spots in the back. Neighbors say this is not the place for it.
“When Joseph W Young established Hollywood, he made three distinct neighborhoods: residential, business, and the port for industry, because he wanted to make it a happy city,” said Susan Mercier, a local realtor.
“The streets weren’t designed for business traffic, and the property values will go down. Because I’m a realtor, I know that no one wants to live across the street from anything that’s not residential,” Mercier said.
Fears project could set precedent
Mercier also fears this could be the beginning of more nonresidential projects in the neighborhood.
“It’ll start here, and it’ll grow, because they’ll think it’s a precedent. They start with this one variance of a beautiful house,” she said.
Planning board recommends approval of project
The planning board is recommending approval, saying it is “compatible and well‑designed redevelopment” and that it is “modest in scale and operation, consistent with the residential character.”
“Our goal is to balance the applicant’s rights under the zoning code with residents’ expectations for neighborhood character and things like that,” said Hollywood spokeswoman Arlene Borenstein.
Decision expected at Dec. 9 meeting
The Hollywood Historic Preservation Board will meet Dec. 9 to decide whether the project moves forward. Many neighbors say they plan to attend.
