A Columbia church's plan to double the size of its building has upset its neighbors.

Last summer, Columbia Presbyterian Church unveiled plans to expand its existing 16,700 square-foot facility off of Route 108 with a 17,763-square-foot addition.

The proposed addition -- which requires county approval -- would include classrooms, a lounge, library, nursery, retractable stage, storage space, restrooms and a reception room.

Church leaders say the addition is necessary to accommodate the existing congregation, and the demand for Sunday school and church ministries.

"Columbia Presbyterian Church is committed to supporting the community," said David Chandler, a deacon and member of the church's Board of Trustees. "We do so by using our facility."

However, a group of residents who live adjacent to the 6.6-acre church property contend the church and its activities have grown beyond what they had expected or supported.

The neighbors are calling for a halt to the expansion, saying the plans are out of sync with the church's residential surroundings.

Donna Rice, who owns one of 14 houses that abut the church land, said trash, noise and traffic from the church have become "a nightmare."

"They came under one premise -- a nice little community church with a few activities -- but that's not what it's been," said Rice, whose family has lived on Amesbury Drive for 37 years. "We've tried to be good neighbors, but it's really impacted the quality of our lives."

Founded in 1978, Columbia Presbyterian Church opened its two-story brick facility across from Centennial Park in 1994. The congregation previously met in the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, a community meeting room in Long Reach, and inside a theater at Howard Community College.

County officials granted the church a special exception in 1990 to build on residentially zoned land. With no community opposition voiced, the church was allowed to build a sanctuary and educational/recreational/fellowship facility in two interlocking buildings. The first phase was to include a gymnasium, followed in three to five years by a sanctuary to be built north and west of the gymnasium, the order states.

Plans have changed

Its multi-purpose gymnasium facility complete, the church now seeks to begin the second phase of construction. However, the church's new plan is to build additions onto the west and south sides of the existing building. Neither addition would include a sanctuary, as originally planned. Church leaders said they plan to continue to conduct their two Sunday services inside the gymnasium.

Church leaders, represented by lawyer Richard Talkin, are asking for approval for the new plans, which Chandler said are "slightly different dimensions" from the original plans, but would be used primarily for religious activities that fit the congregation's needs.

After reviewing the church's plans, county Hearing Examiner Michele LeFaivre denied the church's request in August, citing the church's failure to prove that the proposed addition would not adversely impact the surrounding neighborhood.

The church appealed LeFaivre's decision to the county Board of Appeals, which held a hearing on the issue Dec. 4.

More than 100 people -- some supporting the church expansion, others opposed -- clogged the hallways outside the hearing room in Columbia.

At the hearing, Chandler told the board the expansion is intended to enhance the church's services and ministries.

But residents, represented at the hearing by Bruce Corriveau, whose property abuts the church property, contend the church operates like a school during the week. Corriveau said two home-school groups -- more than 200 children total -- meet at the church for a combined four days each week for support, tutorial and enrichment activities.

The neighbors said they worry that the expansion is designed to suit the needs of a school operation, not a church.

But church representatives said the home-school groups do not constitute a school.

Members of the appeals board told Corriveau that his group's concern about whether the church's activities classified it as a school was not under the board's purview.

Board of Appeals chairman Albert Hayes adjourned the hearing at 10 p.m., without making a decision, and scheduled it to resume Jan. 8, 2009, at 6:30 p.m.

Prior to the Dec. 4 hearing, 30 residents -- most of whom live in the Running Brook neighborhood near the church property -- signed a letter outlining their concerns to church leaders and the Board of Appeals.

The neighbors stated that the church's plans have changed dramatically and that they do not feel church leaders have been forthcoming with the neighbors.

The church's three pastors, Allen Harris, Steve Green and Tim Flora, responded to the letter in a letter of their own distributed the night of the hearing.

"Up until this past summer of 2008, we were unaware that you considered our church to be deceptive and an undesirable neighbor," the letter states.

The pastors said they are seeking "a peaceful resolution to the current tension between us that is satisfactory to all."

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user comments (1)

user kort says...

The Planning board need to expand 108 or stop this church expansion. Church and iron bridge wine place traffic is really a hazzle.

Posted 12:19 AM, 12.16.08 | Permalink