The Planning Commission this week voted 3 to 1 to approve a conditional use permit to rebuild St. Anne’s parish hall and offices. Approximately 22 individuals sat in the audience. During the public hearing, three individuals spoke in favor of the project.
District Two Commissioner Karen Nolta recused herself from the discussion as she is a member of the parish.
District Five Commissioner/Planning Chair Margo Wheeler cast the dissenting vote.
Planners also approved/rejected a request multiple variances.
Wheeler said there was nothing special about this property. She said that was required by state law.
Wheeler and District One Commissioner Calvin Mingione struggled with making the required finding that there was a condition unique to the property that would allow them to approve the requested variances.
Mingione proposed amending the language of the resolution to make the findings he and other commissioners apparently believed would address the matter. The commission took at 10-minute recess while Senior Assistant City Attorney Amy Greyson and Interim Community Development Director Shaun Temple wrote up the requested language.
Chuck Kluger on behalf of St. Anne’s sought to keep the nonconforming rear setback at 2 feet 6 inches for the offices and reduce the landscaping requirement to make room for increased parking space. The church also sought to waive the requirement for trees in the parking lot remove the garage/carport standard for the Priest Residence, and allow rooftop mechanical equipment to exceed the 25-foot height limit for a non-residential building.
Background
“The Applicant requests the replacement of existing religious use structures and site improvements
to create a holistic church campus for Saint Anne Church,” according to the staff report prepared by Associate Planner Patricia Garcia and Interim Community Development Director Shaun Temple.
The project proposed to demolish and rebuild the parish hall, the chapel, offices, and replace two single-family residences with a five-unit priest residence that would have an attached two-car garage, according to the report.
The priest residence would be 5,103 square feet. “The church structure will not be altered,” Temple and Garcia wrote.
The current parking lot has 69 spaces. The remodeled lot would have seven more parking spaces, according to the staff report.
A condition use permit was required for the project, according to the report.
The priest residence was designed with single room occupancy to accommodate the applicant’s request and meet state housing laws, according to the staff report.
“Each unit will consist of a bedroom, private bathroom and private living room,” Temple and Garcia wrote. There would be a shared kitchen on each floor, a laundry, and an elevator, according to the staff report.
The variances
“The project includes variance requests to accommodate the functional and design needs of the Saint Anne Church Campus. As it is currently built, the existing parish hall has a 2.5-foot rear yard setback,” Temple and Garcia wrote.
“The majority of properties within the RHD-20 zone are residences with their garages in the rear of the property facing the alley. However, the requested reduction in setback is for the parish hall and does not involve a garage or vehicle parking. In addition, within Old Town, for churches located within the residential areas, the reduction in the rear yard setback is already an established practice. The Seacoast Grace Church just up the block on 10th and Electric is built nearly lot line-to-lot line with an approximately 2-foot rear yard setback. The Grace Community Church on 8th and Central has a reduced setback at 7 feet with one small wall that is 4 feet from the alley lot line. Given this development pattern of churches in Old Town, this variance request would not constitute a grant of special privileges,” Temple and Garcia wrote.
The Priest Residence, as a residential structure with a garage, will maintain the required rear yard setback,” Temple and Garcia wrote.
“An additional variance request is to allow for rooftop mechanical equipment installed on the parish hall and parish offices to exceed the 25-foot height maximum in the RHD-20 Zone,” Temple and Garcia wrote.
According to the staff report, the church and parish hall are not residential structures so they are not subject to Measure Z, the 2008 residential height-limit of 25 feet for Old Town.
The municipal code requires two parking space for each priest resident unit, according to the report.
