On May 10, 2011 St. James’ Finance Committee submitted the following application and narrative for zoning changes to build a 1,000 capacity church at 525 Caswell Street in the City of Belvidere.
Highlighted are some of the issues which may make this request controversial. The tentative dates of the public hearings/decision are: June 14 Belvidere Planning Commission, June 20 Committee of the Whole and July 5 for Belvidere City Council. Not all of these meetings allow for public comment. Contact city hall or your alderman for updates regarding the proper dates.
The application appears to misstate the required parking needs. Page 2 from St. James’ narrative:
p. 2 “The new church will seat a projected attendance of 850 and will be contracted to the existing school building”….
Code Section 150.204.C.3.B: Parking ration of 1 for every seats
Code Requirements: 170 spaces required for a church capacity of 850
Proposed Parking: A total of 115 on-site parking stalls are proposed
However, Code Section 150.204.C.3.B of the Belvidere City Code states:
B. Parking requirements. Generally, one space per three expected patrons at maximum capacity. However, see additional specific requirements below:
Church: One space per five seats at the maximum capacity.
The application should have stated the code requirement as 200.
Another area of concern is on page 4 of the narrative—“one ten foot length of the building, which is the bapitstry area, is proposed at 4 inches setback off of the property line”
Click on the photocopy to enlarge:
Comments from a parishioner:
The following cartoon depicting the possible future of the St. James School and Church complex because of the large building project.
No comments:
Post a Comment