City Council Minutes 1999 09 07 - Laserfiche WebLink

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space and new handicap accessible restrooms. No new sanctuary or fellowship hall space is proposed. The additional space would be used primarily by the church itself, though they have in the past allowed some other clubs and nonprofit organizations to use their facility for meeting space, and plan to continue to do the same. The Fairview Montessori School does not propose to use the addition on a regular basis. The site does not currently provide any off-street parking and no new off-street parking is proposed. The required parking for places of worship is one space per three seats. The rationale for that parking formula is that the fellowship hall and/or sanctuary creates the largest parking demand, and any other incidental uses of the space will have a lesser demand for parking. Since no new sanctuary or fellowship hall space is proposed, no additional parking would typically be required for this addition. An ordinance adopted by the City earlier this year delegates to the City Administrator the authority to designate parking permit zones in the Old Town Overlay zoning district. However, Staff is not aware of any complaints or issues regarding parking associated with the school or church. The Planning Commission concurred with the findings by Staff that the expansion met all the Special Review Use criteria. The church use is not new to this property and to Staff's knowledge has not created any significant neighborhood issues. While the parking demand for this church has an impact on the neighborhood, that impact is for a limited number of days in the week, and generally for limited times. The nature of the expansion is such that it is designed for the needs of the existing congregation and will bring the building into better compliance with the Uniform Building Code. The expansion is not designed for additional sanctuary or fellowship space that could lead to significant increases in congregation size and associated activity level and parking demand. The impact of the expansion on the neighborhood would be a greater concern if a sanctuary or fellowship hall expansion were proposed. The improvements to the facility will make it a more viable church, and will provide additional space that the church has historically made available to other nonprofit organizations and clubs. Those factors make the church facility an asset to the neighborhood and greater community. The proposed expansion is architecturally integrated into the design of the existing structure and is of a residential character. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the Special Review Use by a vote of 5-0 for Lots 9 through 12, Block 9, Jefferson Place subdivision for use as a church and Montessori School, with conditions to bring the proposal into compliance with the Special Review Use criteria. The Commission raised no concerns. The applicant has agreed to all of the conditions and noted each on the Special Review Use plans. Sisk called for the applicant presentation. 7