Chabad Synagogue Approved in 3-2 Vote
The development will also include townhomes and a daycare that some neighbors said will cause too much traffic and parking problems
Aug. 26, 2026
By Beth Kassab
The City Commission on Wednesday approved a new development near Park Avenue to include a synagogue with a daycare and five townhomes after hearing from residents about the meaning of Chabad of Greater Orlando’s work and the importance of it becoming the first permanent synagogue in Winter Park.
The 3-2 vote followed more than three hours of discussions and comments, including objections from some neighbors who said they worried the project will create too much traffic, noise and parking problems. Commissioners Elizabeth Ingram, Craig Russell and Kris Cruzada voted in favor while Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and Commissioner Warren Lindsey dissented.
“I’m willing to risk parking and I’m willing to risk traffic so people and children can have a better understanding of each other,” Cruzada said just before the vote, adding, “I’m willing to live in a little discomfort” to show acceptance in the community.
DeCiccio and Lindsey supported a motion to postpone the vote, not because they oppose the synagogue, but because they wanted additional conditions on the project such as moving the location of three parking spots closer to the townhomes and an agreement that the synagogue would hold multiple simultaneous events.
“We would welcome a synagogue in Winter Park,” DeCiccio said. “We are with you. We stand with you. Attorney [Rebecca] Wilson can tell you we do this to everybody who comes in.”
Wilson of the Lowndes law firm represents the developer of the townhomes as well as the synagogue and has logged hundreds of hours in front of the Winter Park board over years answering questions about developments down to the smallest details from a commission known to publicly dissect proposals.
When the project passed on the first of two required votes, DeCiccio suggested that before the second vote next month the developer move three parking spaces closer to the townhomes on the 0.6-acre site at the corner of Morse Boulevard and Knowles Avenue where the El Cortez apartment buildings stand today.
Other conditions previously approved by the Planning & Zoning Board include a requirement that child drop-off and pick-up related to the daycare take place in the underground parking area planned for the synagogue as well as prohibiting speakers or amplified music on the rooftop patio; requiring all noise and lights from the rooftop end by 10 p.m.; any expansion of the synagogue or daycare must go back to the city for approval and car lines related to daycare drop-off or pick-up can not spill onto the public streets.
Rabbi Dovid Dubov said most services at Chabad have just 10 to 30 attendees. He also said the location proved the best option for Chabad because other sites proved too expensive or not in a location that people could easily walk to.
A rendering shows what the synagogue will look like from Knowles Avenue.
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