Boulder officials and Congregation Har Hashem have reached an agreement that will allow some homeless people to continue camping at the synagogue at 3950 Baseline Road.

The synagogue will resume allowing a select number of homeless people known to congregation members to camp on the grounds, and the city will recognize the encampment as an "accessory use" to the congregation's religious mission.

"We're thrilled that we will be able to continue doing what we were doing previously, and all is well and good with the city," Rabbi Joshua Rose said. "We cooperated with their requests, and they ultimately were able to see that what we were dong fit in with an appropriate use."

Har Hashem, which also hosts many homeless during the winter as one of several rotating overflow shelters, started last year allowing a small number of people to camp on the grounds during the summer, when all other shelters are closed. Synagogue officials say they checked in with the city, notified all the neighbors and provided those neighbors with a phone number to reach someone 24 hours a day if any problem occurred.

This summer, Har Hashem resumed the program, but this time, someone complained to the city. City officials sent a cease-and-desist letter to the synagogue saying the residential estate zoning classification prohibits camping, even with the property owner's permission.

The synagogue complied with the letter, but it also appealed the decision.

The synagogue's executive director, Gary Fifer, said in a letter to Charles Ferro, the city's development review manager, that helping the homeless was a central part of the institution's mission and camping should be treated as an "accessory use" allowed by right.

"One of the most basic and fundamental religious beliefs and obligations of Judaism is 'to bring the homeless into your house' (Isaiah 58:3-7)," Fifer wrote. "To carry out this religious obligation, Har Hashem uses its buildings and grounds to plan and execute a multi-faceted program for providing assistance to the poor, the hungry and the homeless. One part of that program consists of inviting a selected and limited number of homeless people to sleep overnight on a designated area of the grounds."

In the letter, Fifer laid out provisions the synagogue intends to abide by to keep the program safe and manageable. Those include limiting the number of people to no more than 25 on any night, providing adequate portable restrooms, opening the area only from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and designating one of the "guests" as a supervisor who would report to Har Hashem's leadership.

If necessary for inclement weather, the synagogue would erect a communal tent, but there would be no individual tents, the letter said. The rules also prohibit fires, cooking, loud music or other loud noise.

Fifer said all of those provisions are ones the synagogue already was complying with.

"I believe what the city has done is to reconsider their position and find that what we were doing was an appropriate use of our property," Fifer said. "We appreciate that they reconsidered their position."

Fifer said he wished the matter could have been resolved through a discussion before the city sent a cease-and-desist letter.

Ferro said in an email that city planning staff members reviewed the letter and determined the camping meets the city's definition of accessory use.

"The city is confident that the use will be appropriately managed," he said.

Rabbi Deborah Bronstein, who has been closely involved in the synagogue's homeless outreach, said the city's decision allows Har Hashem to resume an important task.

"Providing homeless people a place to sleep is intrinsic to what we do here," she said. "It is a core value. If we say we take the Bible seriously, that we take the prophets seriously, then we have to take in the homeless. For us, it hasn't been a problem, and it's helped a lot of people."

Earlier this month, several homeless people who had slept at Har Hashem told the Boulder City Council that they now have to fear being arrested for camping on public property.

"I don't know what we did wrong," Michael Homner told council members. "It's sad that I have to come here and beg for this. You go home and sleep in the same bed every night. Where I sleep, it's against the law."

Fifer said Har Hashem does not have a date yet for when camping will resume, but it should be soon.