Black Rock Congregational Church Wins Approval for Replacement Church

After about five years of trying, Black Rock Congregational Church won approval Tuesday night to demolish its church and build a much larger one in its place.

But the approval from a town zoning commission didn't come without a lot of soul searching about whether Black Rock Turnpike will become choked with traffic and whether the church will increase its membership even further with a much larger building.

After the vote, Ken Brix, the church's executive director, said the church didn't have a problem with 10 conditions of approval attached by the Town Plan and Zoning Commission in its 5-2 vote and was "very thankful for the approval."

Joe and Beth Taccogna of Lindamir Lane weren't thankful, however, and are contemplating legal action against the commission for its approval.

"If I can come up with any grounds for an appeal, I will," Joe Taccogna said in McKinley School's gymnasium after the vote.

Beth Taccogna said members of the church already park in her and her husband's driveway, on their lawn and in front of their garage. "They park wherever they want," she said. "We have been polite, asked them not to park in the driveway."

Beth Taccogna said she was just trying to protect her property and that the church had bought several homes on Lindamir Lane, leaving her and her husband "church locked."

Commission members were concerned about more traffic on Black Rock Turnpike and spent nearly all of their deliberations citing problems that could arise from the larger church.

Black Rock's current church is 33,010 square feet and has 550 seats in its sanctuary. The replacement church will be 84,052 square feet and have 950 seats in its sanctuary.

Michael Galante, a traffic consultant hired by the church, said in a report that traffic in the peak hour on Sunday morning will nearly triple if attendance at each of two Sunday morning services is filled to capacity. But not all that traffic will be on Black Rock Turnpike because the church is leasing 198 parking spaces at Notre Dame High School on Sunday mornings.

Richard Jacobs, a commission member, said he was concerned the replacement church will enable Black Rock's congregation to grow even larger. "They say they're not looking to expand the church [membership] and grow, but building a sanctuary almost double the size and making it into two services...nothing will stop them next year from making it five services, instead of two," he said. "When we approve this, there's no going back. They build it, they use it."

"My concern is what the volume is going to be in the future and their saying they have no intention of growing doesn't alleviate my concern," Jacobs said, adding that he believed nearby residents' quality of life will be affected.

Matthew Wagner, a commission member, said the church's proposal was the first application he knew of that started out with a satellite parking lot and a shuttle, but Town Planning Director Joseph Devonshuk, Jr. said the church had enough parking spaces on its property for the replacement church and had proposed the satellite lot to alleviate neighbors' concerns.

Deborah Owens, a commission member, said she also was concerned about traffic but hoped the church would follow through on its plan to use Notre Dame High School as a satellite lot and have a police officer stationed at a main entrance/exit at the church to direct traffic. "It's a tough call. It's a lot of use for this one spot," Owens said.

The church's plan to alleviate traffic also includes adding turning lanes in both directions on Black Rock Turnpike and a separate entrance and exit to a proposed parking lot on the northerly side of the church's property, but the Town Plan and Zoning Commission did not make either one of those a condition of approval.

TPZ Chairman Bryan LeClerc was concerned that a proposed 300-seat room at the replacement church could turn into a catering hall, and commission member Seth Baratz questioned whether that room could be used during services, increasing the church's capacity from 950 seats to 1,250 seats on Sunday mornings. "My concern is a concurrent event with the sanctuary and that room being used," Baratz said.

Devonshuk, though, said he didn't know how the commission could restrict the use of the room. "It's assumed to be an accessory use," he said.

Douglas Soutar, a commission member, said other churches have large parish halls, and he didn't think Black Rock's proposed 300-seat room would be used as worship space.

The commission's major conditions of approval included:

* Submission of a maintenance plan for porous pavement that will be used in parking lots and adherence to that plan;

* No ingress or egress via Lindamir Lane;

* Residences purchased by the church cannot have increased use for church activities during or after construction of the replacement church;

* A police officer be hired Sunday mornings to direct traffic, and the church assign members to park in the satellite lot at Notre Dame High School;

* No parking on Black Rock Turnpike;

* Re-timing a traffic control signal at exit 44 of the Merritt Parkway as Galante recommended.

"This is probably the most conditions I've heard of any application," Jacobs said before the commission voted. He said commissioners ought to wonder whether the number of conditions meant the application didn't work.

LeClerc, Soutar, Baratz, Owens and Wagner voted in favor. Jacobs and commission member Sally Parker voted in opposition.

Brix said the church still needs approval from the State Traffic Commission.