Folsom Planning Commission approves new Chabad Jewish Synagogue

Folsom city officials approved a new synagogue last month on Hana Way for the Chabad Jewish Community Center. The Folsom Planning Commission unanimously approved a design review Jan. 21 for a 23,483 square-foot community center on two acres at 795 Hana Way. The Chabad congregation is currently located at a commercial shop on South Lexington Drive. "It's a beautiful building, from the rendering," said Commission Chair Eileen Reynolds. "It really looks like it will enhance that area and that cul-de-sac." The property is located at the end of the Hana Way cul-de-sac near East Bidwell Street. The two-story building will have a ground floor area of about 17,285 square feet and a second floor of roughly 6,198 square feet, officials said. The plan includes a synagogue, classrooms, community gathering space, social hall, teen lounge on the ground floor, plus a "Mikva," or Jewish ritual bath, according to the plan. Offices, conference rooms and four guest rooms will be on the second floor. Site improvements include a 53-space parking lot, a plaza and courtyard area, and a rear patio area. Design-wise, the applicant proposes a building with flat and low-angled roofing and natural earth-tone exterior materials with masonry, woodgrain and concrete slab finishes. Historically, the city approved a parcel map and rezone in 1989 to divide the 6.73-acre property into three parcels oriented around a new cul-de-sac street later named Hana Way. The three parcels were rezoned from agricultural reserve to business-professional. The property was already developed with a family residence in 1976 that remained until bought in 2023. The parcel south, 785 Hana Way, was sold and eventually developed for an office building. The vacant parcel west, 790 Hana Way, remains undeveloped, staff said. The Chabad Center acquired the property three years ago. The land lies within the East Bidwell Corridor Overlay General Plan and the Humbug-Willow Creek Parkway master plan. The existing two-acre parcel has a 2,336 square-foot, single-story, mid-century luxury home and pool, as well as small out buildings, all set to be demolished. Meanwhile, Rabbi Yossi Grossbaum explained that Chabad, or Chabad-Lubavitch, is a well-known, worldwide movement within Orthodox Judaism dedicated to acts of kindness. "We're part of a global movement within the Jewish community, trying to encourage acts of goodness and kindness," Grossbaum told the commission. Chabad is a Hasidic movement focused on Jewish education, outreach and acts of loving-kindness, or Chesed. Chabad operates more than 3,500 institutions in more than 100 countries, according to Jewish websites.