Synagogue ripped on its parking

Chabad at the Beaches, a Jewish worship group in Ponte Vedra Beach, has grown considerably since its creation two and a half years ago.

And since the group is based out of a home across from the Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library on State Road A1A, complaints from neighbors about noise and parking have grown as well.

“As that congregation has grown, so has the parking problem,” Curtis Long, a next-door neighbor at 523 A1A, told trustees of the Ponte Vedra Municipal Service District (MSD) Monday night.

Long was seeking “some relief” from the dozens of cars that are sometimes parked at an angle on the eastern shoulder of A1A.

Long said he and his wife must sometimes come to a complete stop on the busy highway to carefully maneuver between cars parked along their driveway on the grass.

Although Wayne Flowers, attorney for the MSD, advised the board that it has no authority over such land use issues, most of the trustees agreed that something should be done about the cars parked at the Chabad house.

“The parking to me seems extremely dangerous,” said Trustee Al Hollon.

Gary Jurenovich agreed, adding that “the bumpers of those cars are right on the white line.” MSD Chair Robert Reesh said he has even seen cars parked in the median.

Rabbi Nochum Kurinsky, director of Chabad, said in an interview Tuesday that reports of out-of-control parking are exaggerated.

“We’re very sympathetic with our neighbors,” said Kurinsky, who lives in the home with wife Leah and son Avi.

“We’ve done everything we could in the past. . . to assist them and to try to keep everybody happy.”

Kurinsky said he plans on moving the congregation of 50 to 60 families to a private facility soon, but the congregation cannot yet afford property in Ponte Vedra.

Kurinsky said he is looking for a lot big enough for a small synagogue and perhaps a few small homes.

Regular services are held Saturday mornings, and dinners for the congregation are held every Friday night. Kurinsky said he believes they are within their rights to hold services and allow visitors to park.

But Trustee Rob Becker said the problem lies in allowing special events and activities out of a private home.

Although Chabad is not considered a business, Becker said they sometimes hold special events and charge each person who attends – an activity that he considers fund-raising.

“You don’t see the Episcopal Church and you don’t see the Catholic Church running fund-raisers out of homes,” Becker said.

“I think it’s frankly uncalled for, and it’s going to set a precedent.”

Flowers said local governments must be very careful when dealing with religious groups because arguments for discrimination are easy to make.

“There are so many shades of gray between what is and what isn’t religious activity,” Flowers said.

St. Johns County Commissioner Bruce Maguire, who attended the MSD meeting, said the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has the only authority over parking regulations on state roads such as A1A.

Maguire said he would check to see what can be done with the county’s legal department and with Joe Stephenson, public works director for St. Johns County, who used to work for the FDOT.

Stephenson said in a telephone interview Tuesday that parking on grassy shoulders of state roads is permissible as long as it doesn’t create a safety hazard or a maintenance problem.

Drivers pulling out onto the road must have a “clear sight view” of oncoming traffic, Stephenson said.

He also said parking on a regular basis along the shoulder can kill vegetation, exposing dirt. The dirt is then washed away by rain, which creates not only a maintenance problem, but also a safety hazard, he said.

FDOT standards dictate that a shoulder can be no more than 3 inches below the surface of the pavement, according to Stephenson.

Anything more than 3 inches is considered a “shoulder drop-off” and a safety hazard, he said.

Stephenson said drivers tend to “jerk” their cars back onto the road when they drift off the pavement, and shoulder drop-offs can cause drivers to lose control of the car or even flip a vehicle.

If FDOT officials are called to examine a parking problem in that area, they will most likely look for shoulder drop-offs, Stephenson said.

If they find a problem, they will post “no parking signs,” he said.

Aside from the occasional car or two, Kurinsky said members of his congregation have not parked along the road in about four weeks.

He said the problem can be solved by simply encouraging people to carpool and park along the neighborhood streets to the east.