Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

SE-01-12-084 — FLORIDA VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ASSOC., INC./Cont. January 3, 2002

Request: Special Exception in R-1A zone to expand church use by constructing paved parking lot adjacent to existing temple.

Decision: Denied

Hearing: Documentation outlining the history of this case is located on Pages ----------. The applicant filed the Special Exception request in response to Code Enforcement Board action for using the south portion of the property for parking without the benefit of BZA approval. At last month's BZA hearing, neighboring residents spoke in opposition. The concerns were traffic and noise. The opposition stated that excepting for the use of an outdoor PA system, there is usually not a problem with noise and traffic associated with typical Sunday services, which are small in nature (temple occupancy capacity is 50 persons). The problem is when there are special outdoor festivals held several times year when 750 or more patrons attend. There is not enough room on the property for such large gatherings nor the associated parking needed to accommodate such events. Cars are parked all over the property and up and down the street. There is also too much noise associated with these events, due to the amount of people and the fact the events are conducted outdoors. The opposition stated temple patrons have ignored their requests to help solve the problems. A 53-signature was submitted in opposition from neighboring property owners. At the January BZA hearing, the applicant's attorney submitted a parking agreement executed between the temple and the Knights of Columbus, whose property is located about 1/4 mile to the north. It was the temple's contention that they could relieve the traffic problem associated with the festival events by adding the new parking lot (61 spaces) on the temple property and using the Knights of Columbus property (54 spaces) for patrons' cars. The opposition contended that the property was too small to accommodate the large festivals. It was suggested that the festivals take place off-site, at a larger location not close to homes. The temple stated they could not relocate the festivals because they are tied to the religious aspects of the temple *