News

Attorney Mitchell Kirschner, Rabbi Ruvi New and architect Derek Vander Ploeg

wait to speak at the Boca Raton Planning & Zoning Board meeting on May 7.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

An architect’s rendering of the north side of the proposed Chabad of East Boca facility.

By Sallie James

    It has been a bumpy ride for Chabad of East Boca and it’s not over yet.
    Plans for one of the most hotly contested developments in city history got the nod last month when the Boca Raton City Council voted to allow the proposed beachside synagogue’s height to exceed the 30 feet allowed by city code. The vote was supposed to pave the way for construction.
    But the victory was short-lived: Even before council members cast their final votes on May 27, an appeal citing injury and protesting the house of worship’s construction at 770 E. Palmetto Park Road had already been filed with the city.
    Now council members must address that appeal in July or August before anything else can happen.
    “This is going to happen, God willing,” said Rabbi Ruvi New, Chabad of East Boca’s spiritual leader. “We are not going to be deterred by this appeal. It’s totally baseless.
    “I don’t think there is any legitimate grounds for the appeal whatsoever. It may cause a short delay until the appeal is heard, but I am confident just as we have received a positive vote three times that that will continue to be case.”
    Residents who live in the neighborhoods on the barrier island near the proposed synagogue say the project is too ambitious, will draw too much traffic and create parking issues on the .84-acre parcel.
    “I don’t see any testimony let alone evidence that there was any injury from the height,” said council member Mike Mullaugh, who voted “yes” for the project. The project was approved 4-1, with council member Jeremy Rodgers voting “no.”
    Opposition to the project has been fierce.
    Proponents claim the open parcel on East Palmetto Park Road is perfect for Chabad of East Boca’s proposed 18,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art synagogue and world-class, interactive Israel museum and will increase area property values. They disagree with claims of increased traffic, noting that Chabad members walk to services per their religion.
    Opponents insist that such a facility is too intense a use for the site and will drive extra traffic into an already congested area that is also critically affected by the ups and downs of the Palmetto Park Road drawbridge. The height of 40 feet, 8 inches will be intrusive, they claim.
    “We’re talking about the height as if it were a flagpole and it’s a 6,000-square-foot building,” said resident Sharon Shubin.

Opponents fear precedent
    The appeal claims the city rendered its decision based on “improper and erroneous interpretations” of the city code that were made “arbitrarily and without reasonable analysis” of requests by residents who live near the project.
    Many homeowners worry that the city’s approval of the project’s increased height will set a precedent for even taller developments, which could ruin the ambiance of the area.
    “We are opposed to overdevelopment on the beach,” said homeowner Katie MacDougall, who lives in the nearby Riveria neighborhood and is among 19 parties included in the appeal. “The scale of the project is just too big for the parcel and the uses of the project are very ambiguous. To me, (the vote) was very premature. It’s far from over.”
    The proposed synagogue is slated to have a 156-seat sanctuary, a basement parking area with 56 spaces and a 25-space ground-level lot. In addition, the project would have a social hall and a high-tech Israel museum.
    Resident John Hoffman said the project sounds wonderful and was mystified by the intense opposition.
    “I can’t imagine not wanting such a beautiful cultural addition to our city,” Hoffman said. “It sounds like we are building a new Miami Dolphins stadium on Palmetto. It’s a Chabad center with a museum and an interactive museum.”
    Resident Chris Fluehr said it is the size and scope of the synagogue that is problematic.
    “We think that the city and council acted inappropriately by approving it. It’s too much density and too much height,” said Fluehr, a board member of the Riviera Civic Association, which represents 450 homeowners on the barrier island. “There is not adequate parking and there is not going to be adequate code enforcement.”

Long road to new home
    New, who started his congregation in the living room of his own house 15 years ago, said Chabad of East Boca has outgrown its current home at 120 NE First Ave., and desperately needs to move. The path to finding a new home has been frustrating and challenging.
    “It’s been a very long road — from our vantage point it’s been 10 long years,” said New, who has vowed his congregation will be good neighbors. “We want to move on and live in peaceful existence.”
    In 2008, the Chabad’s plans to move into a 23,000-square-foot building near Mizner Park were scuttled after the City Council approved strict new parking requirements that the Chabad was unable to meet.
    The path to approval has been a back-and-forth that has gone on for months.
    A site plan for the project was first recommended for approval by the city’s Planning and Zoning Board on March 19.
But after City Council members reviewed the plans on April 14, they sent the project back to the Planning and Zoning Board with questions about how the square footage was calculated.
    The Planning and Zoning Board reconsidered the project on May 7 after receiving clarifications to the technical questions, and again recommended approval, sending it back to the City Council a second time.
    “This is a commercial property,” New pointed out. “Consider the alternatives: restaurants, nightclubs, massage parlors. There’s a whole range of things that would have more impact on traffic.
    “That narrative that people just keep pounding and pounding and pounding has no legitimacy at this point,” New said.