Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

SE-00-01-011 — Cypress Grove Fellowship

Request: Special Exception in R-1A zone to expand existing church use (new church sanctuary) and Variance for unpaved parking.

Decision: Approved

Hearing: Two commentaries were received in favor of the proposed church expansion. A community meeting was held on December 27th. Two citizens attended and indicated they were in favor of the request at the meeting. On January 3rd, the applicant held an additional community meeting with three officers of the Holden Area Neighborhood Council, who indicated specific design criteria for signage and lighting if the curch expansion goes forward. At the January 6th BZA hearing an officer from the Holden Area Neighborhood Council presented a list of suggested conditions of approval that would make the church expansion more compatible with the neighborhood, in their opinion. The officer suggested that similar conditions of approval have been used in several adjacent church properties. At the public hearing an adjacent property owner, Leah Bank, spoke in opposition to the church expansion. There was a discussion between Board members and Ms. Bank as to why she had not attended the community meeting, or contacted the applicant prior to the hearing regarding her concerns. Ms. Bank presented two maps to demonstrate that there are many disruptions to the existing residential neighborhoods. She stated that the church expansion does not meet the criteria for a Special Exception as listed in the County Comprehensive Policy Plan. Ms. Bank also had concerns regarding the additional traffic that would be created by this church expansion on Holden Avenue and Lake Holden Hills Drive. District #4 Board member explained that he is in favor of unpaved parking spaces, except for the handicap parking areas, which was consistent with Staff's revised recommendations. The BZA voted unanimously to approve the Special Exception subject to the modified Staff recommendations.