Church and State South Florida Style

Here is a story out of today's Miami Herald. I'm not a fan of eminent domain, but Broward County here appears to me to have a right to use this clause. They are going to build a rehab facility on what is the church's property. A rehab facility is for public use, not like in Riviera Beach where a developer will get the land. The County should before invoking eminent domain make sure there isn't an alternative site for this facility.

Open Post- Bright & Early, Right Wing Nation, Basil's Blog,

The Rev. Dan Tennis wants to bring stability and God to the ostracized, transient parishioners who pass through his church doors.

For the last two years, Tennis and his wife Patricia have worked to turn the Christian Romany Church in southeast Fort Lauderdale into a haven for area Roma, or Gypsies, as they are sometimes known. The church, one of a few Roma parishes in South Florida, holds services in Romani, runs an elementary school on site and plans to open a day care.

''Our church is the Gypsy's hope in life,'' said Chris McGill, 52, one of the church's 150 or so parishioners.

But the yellow stucco church, located on a dusty road off State Road 84 on the eastern fringe of Edgewood, sits on the same lot Broward County has in mind for a drug treatment center. And county leaders, flexing their eminent domain muscle, say the church must make way for an expanded Broward Addiction Recovery Center -- a facility that they say has outgrown its current home on a pricey patch of land in Sailboat Bend.

The church is fighting the county's eminent domain proceedings in court, arguing, among other things, that a wealthier area should not be able to send less-than-desirable facilities into poorer neighborhoods.

''We are concerned for the people in this area,'' said Rev. Dan Tennis.

The Christian Romany Church's battle comes at a time eminent domain has grown increasingly controversial in South Florida and across the nation. The backlash has given rise to one remedy: the Florida Legislature recently passed a constitutional amendment that would prohibit using the rule to transfer private property to developers.

A PUBLIC PURPOSE

But legal experts say that it's harder to argue against eminent domain when the government has a public purpose in mind -- in this case, treating residents addicted to drugs.

Under Florida law, the government is allowed to take private land for public use when necessary. The church is fighting it, charging, among other things, that the county could go elsewhere.

''Despite claims by officials that eminent domain is a last-resort, that is very rarely the case,'' said Dana Berliner, a lawyer for the Washington-based Institute for Justice, a libertarian advocacy group.

Assistant County Attorney Tony J. Rodriguez said the county can't afford to expand the current BARC in Sailboat Bend, given code upgrades required in new construction. The center has been in the same building since the early 1970s, said Joanne Richter, Broward County's Assistant Director of Substance Abuse and Health Care Services.

Ira Cor, a real estate broker who tried to help facilitate the deal, said the Sailboat Bend property at 1000 SW Second St. could fetch about $4.5 million. The Christian Romany Church at 330 SW 27th St. sold for $1.2 million last fall.

''So, we move a church out, and we move a drug rehabilitation center into a less nicer neighborhood?'' Circuit Judge Robert Lance Andrews asked during a hearing last week in Broward Civil Court.

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

Richter said the county looked at five or six other sites, including a parcel just west of I-95 on Broward Boulevard and a lot just south of 441. The county settled on the Southwest 27th Street site before the church moved in.

The 50-year-old church had been vacated by the Metropolitan Community Church and stood empty when county officials saw it. The landowner, Russell Bratt, spoke to the county about a possible sale. He also spoke to Christian Romany.

The Roma church, founded in 2003 in Hollywood, took over the lease with an option to own in 2004. The parish came up with enough money the next year for a $130,000 down payment on the $1.2 million property.

THE ROMA COMMUNITY

There are about 1,200 Roma in South Florida, mostly concentrated in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale, Tennis said. Many in the community have jobs as roofers or mechanics. Children often never make it past the first few years in school. Tennis said many of his congregants can't read or write, something he wants to change.

''The Gypsy community needs us,'' Tennis said. `We have a vision.''

He also questioned the logic of locating a drug treatment center 400 feet away from the Seagull School, located at 425 SW 28th St., which serves teenage moms and their babies.

''The county has abused its discretion,'' said Brian Patchen, a Miami attorney representing the church. ``Users are also sellers and pushers.''

Richter said the BARC would be a drug-free facility.

''We don't consider them dangerous,'' Richter said of the BARC clients. ``Most users are not pushers.''

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Edgewood residents are OK with the county's BARC plan, said homeowner association president Cliff Iacino.

''We did have concerns, but [Southwest 27th Street] is not a residential area,'' he said. ``We would prefer a park, of course, but we are living up to our social responsibilities.''

The next hearing in Judge Andrews' courtroom is set for next month. A decision on whether to allow the county to take over the land is likely months away.

Cor said the church was aware that the county had eyes for the property when they moved in, a charge Rev. Tennis denies. Bratt, the seller, could not be reached for comment.