Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

SE-04-06-137 — PINE CASTLE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH/Cont. from 4/1/04

Request: "Special Exception in R-1A (single family-7,500 sq. ft. lots) and R-2 (residential-I-4 unit structures) zones to expand and modify religious use facilities and private school facilities with Variances as follows: 1) Construct new sanctuary building with classrooms and offices at 55 ft. in height in lieu of 35 ft. and located at a point that is less than 55 ft. from the centerline of Hansel Avenue (property fronting Fairlane Avenue); 2) Construct two-story school/classroom/office addition (property fronting Waltham Avenue); 3) Construct new two-story community center/gymnasium (property fronting Randolph Avenue); 4) New multipurpose playfield and retention areas (property fronting the north side of Wallace and also the south side of Waltham Avenue next to fire station); 5) Provide new paved parking facilities and grassed parking facilities; 6) Ornamental fencing along Hansel Avenue and Fairlane Avenue within required setback area."

Decision: Approved

Hearing: "The Staff Report and Recommendation is located on Pages______ The applicant's request is for approval of a ""Master Plan"" which includes new construction, building expansion, outdoor multipurpose playfields, and additional parking related to their church and private school. Due to the residential zoning on a majority of the properties, Special Exception approval and some associated Variances are needed. The BZA application was filed last year. Due to the magnitude of the project and the concerns generated by staff and neighboring property owners, two community meetings were held and numerous meetings conducted by staff to thoroughly review the project and determine what attempts could be made to resolve those concerns. The primary concerns were traffic congestion/safety problems, parking, drainage, noise and other nuisance-type related problems, and compatibility of the project with the neighboring residential area. The Public Works staff have been involved in the past few months to assist with traffic management issues and peripheral issues such as drainage and concurrency. These past months' study resulted in the applicant making numerous revisions to their Master Plan. They submitted a Revised Master Plan. Many revisions were made to address concerns cited above. Staff prepared a set of conditions for partial approval of the application, based on the Revised Master Plan; the partial approval allows for the new parking, new sanctuary, enlarged school building, and the outdoor recreation areas. However, staff recommended denial of the gymnasium because it was considered a commercial use that would detrimentally impact the neighboring residential area. Several neighboring residents and citizens were present at the BZA hearing and continued to voice some concern about the project, mostly pertaining to traffic problems in the neighborhood. The BZA recommended approval of the conditions with a couple minor conditions. The applicant requested the