QUESTION: 
Can someone build a sukkah in the common areas?
ANSWER: A sukkah is a hut used by religious Jews to symbolize the temporary dwellings Israelites lived in during their forty years of wandering in the desert before reaching the promised land. The sukkahs are used during the week-long holiday of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles or Festival of Booths) for prayer, reading the Torah, taking meals, and sleeping.
Common Area Restrictions. Since most CC&Rs prohibit temporary structures, prohibit alterations to the common areas, and do not allow nuisances, a sukkah would violate the CC&Rs. Constitutional guarantees of religious freedoms do not override CC&R restrictions--the guarantees protect against governmental interference not private restrictions. Accordingly, there is no constitutional right to build sukkahs in the common areas.
Exclusive Use Common Area. What about balconies and patios? Under the U.S. Fair Housing Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and the Unruh Civil Rights Act, associations cannot discriminate in housing based on one’s religion. It is very likely associations would be required to reasonably accommodate a request to temporarily erect sukkahs on exclusive use balconies and patios.
Case Law. There are no California cases on this issue but there are two out of New York. Even though out-of-state cases have no precedence in California, they can be instructive. Both cases involved an Orthodox Jew, Robert Greenberg, who sued his condominium association over his sukkah.
In the first case, Greenberg built a sukkah in the common area. In the litigation that followed, the court sided with the association. It found that a sukkah in the common areas violated the CC&Rs. The court commented that Greenberg could satisfy his religious obligations by using a sukkah erected by friends or relatives.
Eight years later, Greenberg constructed a sukkah on his balcony. The association again intervened and litigation followed. (Greenberg v. Parkridge.) This time, the court sided with Greenberg because his sukkah was on exclusive use common area.
Recommendation: Boards should allow Jewish families to erect sukkahs on their exclusive use common area balconies and patios. Associations can regulate sukkahs by limiting their construction to the start of the holiday and require their removal the day after the holiday ends. Boards can also require they be constructed in such a manner as to not damage the common areas.
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