Church gets go-ahead for expansion

Published 4:44 pm Monday, March 23, 2009

Sumner’s Calvary Community Church will be able to expand its facilities after being granted a permit.

Stephen Causseaux, the hearing examiner who presided over a public hearing in February about the expansion plan, granted the conditional use permit and height exception Thursday.

Conditions of the decision are for the church to record the volcanic hazard area notice against the title of the property, to keep the occupancy at or below 5,000 and ensure landscaping is in accordance with Sumner guidelines. Also, an agreement on the design of an incoming traffic signal shall be reached between the city, nearby residents across Valley Avenue, and the church.

The church, at 1516 Gary St., iwill add a two-story sanctuary covering approximately 37,000 square feet of land, increase the number of parking spaces to 840 and make improvements to utilities. Later phases of the project may involve expanding the sanctuary, adding an education center, member services center, chapel, school building expansion, administrative office expansion and a kitchen renovation and expansion, amongst other improvements.

The additions would total approximately 244,230 square feet over an estimated 97,880 square feet of land.

A public meeting took place in February during which some members of the public expressed concern over the volume of traffic created by the project.

A traffic impact analysis report was prepared by Heath and Associates Inc., and submitted to Sumner’s Public Works Department for review.

The report indicates approximately 56 new inbound and 53 new outbound weekday peak hour trips will be created.

The Sunday trips will increase by about 504 inbound and 458 outbound for the 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. services, according to the report.

Plans to alleviate traffic include installing a traffic signal at the northern entry and exit of the location and rerouting church traffic.