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Trinity Church - Important Meeting Notice

Wed, Jul 6, 2016 • Trinity Presbyterian

The TVH Planning Board Meeting, will meet on two specially designated days during the month of July: July 5th and July 19th at 7:30 PM in the Municipal Building, 1 Heineman Place, Harrison. (There will be no meeting held on July 26th)

The upcoming meeting on July 5th 2016 has several important items, including Trinity Church:
Trinity Presbyterian Church – House of Worship/Building Addition
526-530 Anderson Hill Rd. (Trinity Application)

The Trinity Church Application is second on the July 5th meeting agenda that can be viewed here.

Members will recall that PEPA’s legal and environmental planning consultants have provided the Planning Board with thorough comments to ensure that all appropriate studies and reviews are conducted as part of the environmental review, legal and/or other approval procedures related to this project.

To view PEPA's engineering comments and legal submissions please visit the Archived Letters and Comments for Trinity Church.

Please note, the last time the Trinity Application was heard by the Town/Village Harrison Planning Board was on February 23, 2016. Here is a summary of that meeting:

Following up on comments and questions posed by the Planning Board's previous meeting, the applicant focused its presentation on the issues of:

Parking Issues
Previously, the applicant sought to have 130 paved spaces but at the last meeting the Planning Board expressed issues with having a large amount of impervious surfaces. In response to the Planning Board’s comments the applicant has reduced the number of parking spaces down to the 119 spaces required under the Zoning Code. However, in removing such parking spaces the applicant explained that they would take the area where those spots were previously located and turn it into a “reinforced grass area” where vehicles could park when overflow parking is needed without significantly damaging such green space. The Planning Board said that they appreciate this change to the Site Plan application.
Building Height Issues
The applicant’s architect stressed the importance of keeping the new building at the same floor elevation as the existing Tudor house so that they would read as a single building and functionally would connect better. This means that towards the south of the property the first floor rises above 10 feet above grade as the site slopes to the south. At the same time the church is seeking a variance for the roof height, arguing that the needed at the height (they refer to it as “volume”) to create the spiritual experience. The Planning Board questioned the applicant about there not being any alternatives that sought something less than a 30% variance from the allowable roof height. However, they recommended the project to the zoning board.

Following the applicant’s presentation, the Planning Board voted to send the applicant to the Zoning Board for review of the requested height variance. Once the ZBA is done reviewing the height variance application the matter will be back before the Planning Board for further Site Plan and Special Exception Use review. One of the issues flagged by the Planning Board for further review was potential operational issues with the site, specifically, hours of operation, types of staff on site and potential conditions the Planning Board could require to become part of the special permit if it approved the project as a way to enforce operational limitations for, and to curb any negative effects of, the project.

Please reach out with your comments and questions.

Thank you for your continued support.

KEY LINKS

Final Impact Study for Trinity Church

Trinity Church - Important Meeting Notice

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