A planned temple in Gotha stirs hopes of Hindu faithful, ire of Orange County neighbors
After months of waiting, a Hindu congregation will likely find out soon if it can move its spiritual home from Orlando to a new temple in Gotha, a rural settlement in west Orange County, where residents are bothered by the building’s proposed size.
If granted permission, followers of the Hindu denomination known as BAPS, short for Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, would build a 33,000-square-foot worship center with a 43-foot-tall spire. It’s been called the “Temple on Hempel,” after the avenue in Gotha on which it would sit.
After 30 years, they’ve outgrown their current home on Oak Ridge Road, congregants said.
Orange County’s zoning board rejected the sect’s request last year for an exception to county rules limiting development in rural settlements, a designation intended to preserve the character of small historic areas.
The board concluded the proposed temple would be not only the tallest structure in Gotha but also a “detrimental intrusion” in a community best known as the home of historic Nehrling Gardens, a botanical wonderland.
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Temple advocates appealed the decision to county commissioners who listened to testimony in September but tabled the discussion — and a decision — to see if the disagreements could be worked out. They apparently can’t be.
Commissioners are set to decide the appeal Tuesday and emails suggest minds haven’t changed much.
“What an absolute horrific idea for our small town,” resident Eric Rusnak wrote in a message addressed to commissioners and chief planner Ted Kozak. “Traffic, eye sore, flooding concerns, no benefit to the people of Gotha.”
Another Gotha resident, Kim Cousins, said there already is a “parade of bumper-to-bumper traffic” weekdays from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on two-lane Hempel Avenue, often used as a shortcut to Ocoee. She fears it will get worse.
“Many times I cannot even get out of my driveway or get home,” she wrote.
Attorney James Willard, arguing on behalf of the proposed temple, had urged commissioners to overrule the zoning board’s recommendation, saying a religious campus would be better than likely alternatives for the former citrus grove.
He said if the Hindu temple isn’t allowed to relocate there, the eight-acre site will probably be turned into 17 half-acre home sites that “are going to generate more impact and more traffic than what this temple ever would do.”
Willard said a temple would be “absolutely compatible” with the community, already home to three spiritual centers, including two on Hempel, a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Camp Ithiel, a Christian camp and retreat center.
Zalak Patel, a member of the congregation who lives in Windermere, empathized with concerns of Gotha residents but minimized the potential impact, noting worship assemblies are held once a week, on Saturday evenings.
“Keep in mind this temple is solely used by its members and their family for spiritual and cultural needs,” she said during the hearing in September. “No part of this facility will be rented out to any outside group for any other purposes.”
The campus won’t host a day-care center or outside sporting events like some churches.
But some opponents also spoke at the hearing in September, questioning how building the temple in Gotha would benefit the rural community when few residents practice the faith.
“There’s nobody in the community that would actually be a part of this congregation,” said Tom Hayes, a Gotha resident. “We aren’t against any of the people that are here or their religious beliefs….We just want to preserve what we have, what we moved here because of.”
