ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Orange County’s zoning and land-use practices to determine whether the county discriminated against the Orlando Torah Center by denying a permit for the congregation’s proposed expansion, according to a letter they sent to Orange County.
A Sept. 9 letter from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office states, in part, that the inquiry “will focus on Orange County’s zoning laws and practices regarding religious land uses, including its denial of the Orlando Torah Center’s application for a special permit, and whether that denial has … discriminated on the basis of religion.”
The Orlando Torah Center, a neighborhood synagogue currently housed in a 1,600-square-foot single-story house in the Sand Hills neighborhood on Apopka-Vineland Road in the Dr. Phillips area, filed a federal lawsuit against the Orange County Board of Commissioners on July 31 after the county denied its request to convert the building into a three-story worship and programming space.
Neighbors opposed the expansion at county commission meetings, citing concerns about increased traffic and noise in an area dominated by single-story family homes. Southwest Middle School sits at the end of the street, the Center’s attorney noted. However, documents show how small the lot size is, and some neighbors said they want their area to remain strictly residential.
“Let’s say I’m concerned because it has been told to them that it’s not discrimination. It is, in fact. This is a residential area. And that this is not approved for this area,” said one resident who declined to show her face on camera. Other opponents, who also declined on-camera appearances, said they feared being labeled anti-Semitic and insisted their objections were focused on land-use and neighborhood character.
Supporters of the Orlando Torah Center contend the facility is essential to the Orthodox Jewish community it serves because many congregation members walk to worship and cannot drive on the Sabbath.
County records posted online indicate the house used as the synagogue has had code violations in the past, and the Center’s attorney said they were working to address those violations.
The state’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, sent a letter on Aug. 8 expressing concerns about the county’s decision. Orange County’s attorney replied on Aug. 15, asserting that the July 1 decision “was based on fair and neutral criteria. It was in no way based on … antisemitism,” according to the county’s response.
Orange County also provided News 6 with a copy of its response to the DOJ investigation but said it could not comment extensively because of the pending lawsuit, while reiterating that religion did not factor into its decision.
The DOJ probe is ongoing, and the litigation filed by the Orlando Torah Center remains active.