OAK PARK : Panel Now Opposes Jewish Center Plan

Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council members have overturned an earlier decision to support the expansion of a Jewish worship center, saying the scope of the project has changed.

For about a year, members of the Chabad of the Conejo Valley have used a house on Conifer Street as a place to pray and conduct business. In March, they submitted plans for a 1,300-foot expansion, which outraged nearby residents.

Advisory council member Ron Stark said that on July 26 the council agreed to urge the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to issue the chabad only a six-month conditional-use permit.

But during the council’s meeting Tuesday night, a resident’s attorney showed council members a copy of the chabad’s application for a five-year permit, Stark said.

Council members were also upset by the application’s indication that the center would be used for evening classes, when they had envisioned it being used only on weekends for services.

“It was entirely different than what we said we would support,” Stark said. “It was like an all-or-nothing deal, so we turned it down.”

But Rabbi Moshe Bryski said plans for classes were no secret. “It’s been there all along,” he said, adding that county planners would not allow a six-month permit.

“This is an application that will be heard before the Ventura County Planning Commission and most likely the Board of Supervisors, and that is where this will be decided,” Bryski said.

Tuesday’s decision marked the second time the council has changed its stance on the expansion issue. The council initially recommended that the plan be approved, but reversed its opinion after residents protested this spring, then reversed itself again after some changes were made.

Since the council is only an advisory group, the plan will go before the County Planning Commission and probably the Board of Supervisors, Stark said.