The city of Hollywood approved a controversial proposal to build a religious ritual bath in a residential neighborhood following a full redesign of the building.
In a 4-2 vote, the Hollywood Historic Preservation Board approved a special exception to build a Jewish ritual bath — called a mikvah — on 1434 Monroe Street, an area zoned for residential use.
The decision capped an hours-long tense meeting filled with confusion over order of meeting operations, debate between the board and the applicant’s lawyers and rowdy members of the public who were interjecting constantly and at times, storming out of city hall…