City zoning law prohibits Abbott's group and others from feeding the homeless on the beach, but the law has not been enforced. Abbott has been feeding people regularly on Wednesday nights on the beach, just south of Las Olas Boulevard.

    Saying she didn't have enough information, Broward County Circuit Judge Estella Moriarty denied the request, which Abbott wrote himself. Abbott's newly hired attorney, John David, of Fort Lauderdale, is expected to file a new request.

  City officials said they overlooked the zoning violation while Tent City existed. But the tent came down last month when the new Homeless Assistance Center opened, and the city said it would start enforcing the law on March 1.

    Abbott argues that meals should be provided for homeless people who didn't move into the new center.

    The Broward Coalition for the Homeless said on Wednesday morning it will lobby the county to allow Abbott and th e feeding program that he coordinates to provide meals at a permanent site. The Cooperative Feeding Program wants to serve meals in a building in the 3300 block of Broward Boulevard, but the county says zoning laws may prevent it.

  The building would sit just outside city limits.

   "This is a good time for them to do the right thing," said Pastor Allen Reesor, director of the Broward Outreach Center, the homeless assistance center in Hollywood, and member of the coalition.

   If Abbott moves the meals program into a building, the city "may give him some time" to make the transition, said Bud Bentley, assistant city manager. If he doesn't, "then we'll proceed with enforcement of our zoning codes."

   On Wednesday night, Abbott would say only that he is still undecided whether he will stop feeding on the beach in exchange for a building.

    "We're going to continue fighting," he said, as he helped a homeless man get a better grip on his paper plate. "We're not about to quit."