The Town Council approved on Wednesday the Palm Beach Synagogue’s plans for a major expansion and renovation.
The approval occurred in two separate votes, both of which were contingent upon a declaration of use agreement. The council told the synagogue to appear at next month’s council meeting to negotiate terms of the use agreement, intended to protect against unwanted traffic and parking impacts whenever the synagogue has events that are not on religious holidays.
The council voted 3-2, with Bobbie Lindsay and Julie Araskog dissenting, to approve nine zoning variances required for the expansion. It voted 4-1, with Araskog dissenting, to approve a site plan and special exception use required because the synagogue is in a zoning district where houses of worship are not permitted by right.
The synagogue occupies a 12,000-square-foot, partially landmarked structure at 120 N. County Road and an 8,500-square-foot space at the old Chez Jean-Pierre location at 132 N. County Road. Its congregants bought the Chez Jean-Pierre building and its rear parking lot for $7.1 million in 2021.
Plans call for expanding the number of seats from 158 to 230, and the square footage from more than 19,000 square feet to 32,000 square feet. Plans call for 13 educational classrooms while capping the number of Sunday school students at 150.
The architectural plans, approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in December, call for construction of a two-story structure and renovations to the Bistro Chez Jean-Pierre building to accommodate a two-story synagogue with religious and educational space and a surface parking lot.
Councilman Ted Cooney, who made the two motions for approval, said the only intensification of use in the plan is the addition of 72 seats in the house of worship. The expanded social hall and classroom space would follow existing uses.
Cooney said the limited intensification does not violate the town’s comprehensive plan because plans call for steps to mitigate the impacts of the intensification.
Lindsay expressed concerns about a parking variance and the possibility that the expanded educational facilities might lead to greater academic use in the future.
Araskog said the expansion is too large. “It’s against the comprehensive plan,” she said. “It’s too much intensification of use.”
Mayor Danielle Moore spoke in support of the approval.
“I think we all agree more seats for the congregation is a good thing,” she said.
Moore said the approval of the additional 72 seats is officially an intensification, but in reality it enables the synagogue to build “real seats” instead of the folding chairs that are already used to accommodate a congregation that has expanded over the years.
With the new seats approved, it makes sense to expand the social hall, she said.
“I think they have ample parking for their events,” Moore said. “The architecture is beautiful … I think a house of worship is a good and proper thing for our town.”
Harvey Oyer, the attorney representing the synagogue, said the expansion and renovation will modernize the synagogue and make it more secure while creating additional space for existing activities.
“We want to accommodate our membership, Sunday school students and staff and modernize the buildings, which were built for a different purpose than they are used for today, while preserving our existing landmarked building,” Oyer said.
The landmarked building will be expanded westward into a new two-story structure that will enhance security while masking an unsightly parking lot, behind the synagogue, and currently visible from Sunset Avenue.
Oyer said the plans do not call for any non-religious activities at the synagogue.
“We are only trying to accommodate our existing uses,” Oyer said.
The new space will house the synagogue’s existing uses, which include a social hall, kitchen, library, conference room, youth center and accessory offices, according to Rabbi Moshe Scheiner.
In addition to 18 on-site parking spaces, the synagogue will have access to 105 spaces available through parking agreements with neighboring properties. There are also another 197 spaces in the public right-of-way that Oyer called on the town to make available during the synagogue’s worship and Sunday school services, he said.
“Saturday and Sunday is the only time when we will need those spaces,” Oyer said.
Allowing congregants to use those public spaces during worship services is a privilege already conveyed to other houses of worship, he said. “We would like to same courtesy and custom extended to us that you have extended to other houses of worship.”
As part of the two motions for approval, the council requested that Town Manager Kirk Blouin authorize use of the public right-of-way for parking near the synagogue during its worship services.
The council’s approval followed a nearly day-long discussion that included hours of public comment that was overwhelmingly in favor of the expansion. Not everyone supported the plan, however.
John Eubanks, a West Palm Beach attorney representing nine condominium associations, objected to the synagogue plans, saying they call for too much space and more than town zoning rules allow.
The council in November asked the synagogue to reduce the interior space. That resulted in a reduction of about 4,000 square feet, which Eubanks said did not affect the massing of the building.
“Nobody objects to 72 more congregant seats,” he said. But “they are asking for a 170 percent space increase over the existing building. They are adding a bunch of stuff that is not worship services … it’s an expansion issue.”
Cooney, when making his motions, said the council is under intense pressure from the community to not approve variances.
But he said forcing the synagogue to reduce the space of the 13 classrooms in the plan would not materially change the use. All it would do, he said, is cram the 150 students into a smaller area.
The expansion, which will enclose the interior parking lot to the rear of the existing building, will also enable the synagogue to better secure the property and protect congregants, Cooney said.
“It’s not lost on me that there is not an armed guard when I worship at St. Edward, but there is here,” he said of the synagogue.
The plan does not call for capping the number of congregants. But that would not make sense because people do not have to be synagogue members to attend worship services, Cooney said.
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