Winter Park commissioners voted 3-2 Wednesday to advance plans for a synagogue, daycare and five townhomes on the El Cortez apartment property, but several conditions involving parking, traffic and rooftop events remain unsettled before the project returns for a second hearing.
Commissioners Elizabeth Ingram, Craig Russell and Kris Cruzada supported the conditional-use request. Commissioner Warren Lindsey and Mayor Sheila DeCiccio opposed it. Minutes earlier, they cast the only votes to table the proposal, but that motion failed 2-3, according a report in GrowthSpotter.
The project would replace three buildings containing 35 apartments at 210 E. Morse Blvd. with five townhomes and a three-story synagogue for Chabad of Greater Orlando. The synagogue would include an 80-seat worship space, a daycare for up to 60 children and a rooftop gathering area. The congregation currently meets in a rented space on North Park Avenue.
GAI Consultants filed the application on behalf of property owner El Cortez Ltd. in conjunction with Chabad. Because the synagogue technically has three stories, the project requires two public hearings.
Mayor questions location
DeCiccio pressed the applicant on why Chabad had chosen the congested 0.61-acre site at the southeast corner of Morse Boulevard and Knowles Avenue rather than another downtown property.
“Why not New York or New England, where there’s a lot of beautiful places it could be?” she asked. “There’s plenty of other churches up and down both of those streets.”
DeCiccio said properties along those streets could offer more parking, less congestion and more outdoor space for children.
Rebecca Wilson, a shareholder at Lowndes and attorney for the applicant, said Chabad had searched for a Winter Park home for years and that many of the suggested properties were not available. Scott Zimmerman was willing to sell El Cortez to her client and give Chabad time to complete the city’s approval process, she said.
When DeCiccio responded that she knew some lots along New York and New England avenues were for sale, Rabbi Dovid Dubov said Chabad had explored property at the corner of the two streets. The owner wanted more than $10 million for the land alone, he said.
“We’re talking about someone who’s willing to work with us and really benefit the community,” Dubov said of Zimmerman. “So this is really our only option.”
Dubov said the project would give Chabad a permanent home within walking distance of congregants who do not drive to services on the Sabbath.
“For all of Winter Park’s history, there has never been a permanent synagogue or Jewish daycare in this city, and today you could change that,” he said.
Cruzada said he considered the project’s value to the community greater than the possibility of additional congestion.
“I’m willing to risk parking. I’m willing to risk traffic, so that children and people can have a better understanding of each other,” he said.
Nearby residents said their objections centered on the amount of development proposed, rather than the synagogue itself.
“A standalone synagogue would be a community asset,” said Linda Eriksson during the public comment period. “Adding a 60-child daycare, a rental rooftop venue, and five townhouses on 0.6 acres is completely incompatible to me in a residential setting.”
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Erikkson lives on North Interlachen Avenue. Janet Robinson, who lives on Alexander Place, said she is frustrated that parking is problematic with the venues that already exist in the area, such as Alfond Inn.
“If there’s an event, we can’t get out of our street,” she said. “We have no place to park. … So I don’t think we should be building anything else that we can’t park for until we at least talk about building the thing that might actually help the parking problem.”
Meanwhile, Chabad members like Laura Laboda emphasized the benefits of the proposed project.
“We want the kids to be able to understand their own culture as well as the culture that surrounds them,” she said.
Molly Losey commented, “Let’s have a synagogue. Let’s let children learn to be good people, good humans, because that is what Chabad is all about.”
Losey said she’s lived in Winter Park for 53 years “and never had a place to worship in my own town.”
Conditions remain unsettled
Daycare traffic drew much of the discussion. The Planning and Zoning Board had required all pickups and drop-offs to occur inside the synagogue’s underground garage. The version presented to commissioners also allows parents to park in an available space and accompany their children inside.
Winter Park Police Chief Tim Volkerson said that approach would work better than a traditional car line, which could cause vehicles to accumulate at fixed pickup times and spill onto Morse Boulevard.
Another condition requires the daycare operator to work with the city and Winter Park Police Department if problems arise, comply with requested traffic changes within 20 days and take immediate steps to keep vehicle queues off public streets.
Several issues remain open for the next hearing. Wilson agreed to draft language generally preventing the daycare, worship services and rooftop events from operating at the same time. Ingram suggested requiring a traffic review before enrollment grows beyond 15 or 20 children.
Lindsey and DeCiccio sought tighter controls on rooftop events, but the conditions advanced Wednesday do not limit how often the rooftop could be used or prohibit renting it.
Existing conditions prohibit amplified music and outdoor speakers, require rooftop noise and lighting to end by 10 p.m. and limit the synagogue to 80 seats and the daycare to 60 children. Those restrictions would be recorded in a development agreement.
The proposal is expected to return to the City Commission for a second public hearing Sept. 9. Demolition of the El Cortez buildings cannot begin until the city issues a building permit for the replacement project.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at [email protected] or (407) 420-5246. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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