2005-04-01 TVOLCANO - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Reverend Mathison has been conducting church services in the basement of his home for many years. In the 10 years we have lived on Wright Road I know of no complaints made against the church by any neighbor. Under Reverend Mathison leadership, the church has always been respectful of neighborhood concerns and, in principle, we have no objection to this request for a Special Permit. However, we believe its important that certain conditions be attached so that when Reverend Mathison is no longer pastor, future leaders of the congregation will have specific guidelines to follow so that they can continue to follow his legacy of excellent relations with the neighbors. We therefore request the following conditions be attached to the granting of this permit regarding church use. According to the application, as Mr. Hayashi mentioned, the services are now from Sunday school 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. and services themselves from 10:15 to noon, as well as occasional wedding, funeral or luncheon. In view of the Applicants stated parameters of use, we request that use of this facility be limited to Sundaysbetweenthehoursof9:30a.m.andnoon.Further,thatspecialcelebrationsbe limited to no more than one per month to be held between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. for a maximum duration of no longer than two hours. Regarding noise, we request that church bells or other audible instruments or devices used for calls to worship as part of the services or for any other purpose, as well as amplified music of any kind, be prohibited. In the churchs current location, Reverend Mathison uses a microphone and a single small amplifier so that the worshipers, to preach his sermons. We realize its important for the worshipers to be able to hear their pastor during services and we have no objection to this. However, we ask you to limit the volume of said amplified speech to no more than 50 decibels, which is approximately the level of normal conversation as measured from the edge of the property on either Wright Road or Road A. Parking, which some of this has been addressed but Id like to go on record about this, too, according to the application an average of 30 people now attend Sunday services. The proposed new facility will triple that capacity to 90 worshipers with off-street parking planned for 24 cars. Wright Road is at its busiest on Sunday mornings. Approximately 250 shoppers and dozens of vendors come to the County-owned Cooper Center each Sunday morning for our Farmers Market, which is located down the street from the proposed church. There are no sidewalks, nor gravel shoulders, on Wright Road. Many local residents walk to the market on the street itself; and during this time we also have neighborhood children on skateboards headed toward the County Skate Park adjacent to Cooper Center. In order to maximize the visibility and safety of pedestrians on Wright Road, and given that theres plenty of off-street parking available on the church property, we ask that parking be prohibited on Sundays on the sections of Wright Road and Road A, which is irrelevant now, fronting the church property and that the County post signs to that effect on both sides of the street. Ultimately, we congratulate Reverend Mathison on the growth of his congregation and look forward to his continued good neighborliness. 13