The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Grace Church seeks new home
Project still requires final site plan approval
After 75 years in Mentor, Grace Church is planning to move. But not too far away.
Church leaders recently received a conditional-use permit and preliminary site plan approval from the city Planning Commission to relocate from 6883 Reynolds Road to 7272 Adkins Road, about 1 ½ miles to the south. The 14.3-acre site is zoned R-4, Single-family Residential.
“In recent years, we have been outgrowing our current site, so we explored different creative ways to accommodate our growing congregation,” said Steve Sindelar, pastor of youth and administration, in a letter to city officials. “We had planned to expand our building at our current property at Reynolds Road near Bellflower Road. However, when property at Adkins Road near Route 306 and Route 2 became available, we were able to purchase it.”
The church has two services on Sunday at the current location and offers various services on Wednesday evenings, according to a report to the commission.
The applicant is proposing to construct a twostory, 46,000-square-foot building — 32,000 square feet on the first floor and 14,000 square feet on the second — with an 874-seat worship section, a six-room childcare area with a nursery, and a 13-seat café and kitchen area on the first floor.
The second floor will have 11 classrooms with an additional three rooms identified for future expansion.
The preliminary plan indicates an estimated 28,322-square-foot future addition on the east side of the proposed building. The addition would be setback 30 feet from Route 2 and 55 feet from the eastern property line. The plan also shows an additional 325 future parking spaces at the rear of the site.
One resident raised questions about the proposal during the Aug. 20 public hearing.
“Our road is already very, very busy,” Adkins resident Sharon Stoneman said. “Sometimes it takes a few minutes just to get out of my driveway, and I want to know how this is going to impact, one, us getting off the road and, two, where the driveway is going to be put.”
Commission Chairman William Snow asked for more detail on the landscaping portion.
Sindelar said he is working with the city on that information for the final site plan. He noted that he contacted or attempted to contact many of the residents long before the project came forward.
“A large majority of the residents said they would just appreciate it if (we) would keep the existing tree line how it is,” he said. “And our landscape architect has proposed to do that.”
On the east side is a field between the proposed building and Cornerstone Church on the corner of Adkins and Reynolds/ Route 306.
“We will add some more trees to that location, but we would like to try to keep that accessible for a potential future partnership with the existing church on that 5 acres,” he said.
Commission member Brian Cook asked about the potential use of the classroom space.
Sindelar likened them to Sunday school rooms where Bible studies for various age groups would be held.
“So it’s not functioning as a school?” Cook asked.
“That’s correct,” Sindelar said. “We don’t operate a school; we don’t have any plans to do so.”
“So it’s not going to create a lot of traffic,” Cook concluded.
Sindelar said the most traffic would be generated for about an hour on Sundays.
“Every once in a while, (there would be) Bible studies during the week, but it would not nearly be the kind of volume that would even be noticeable,” he said.
Snow asked whether there would continue to be a police officer directing traffic for Sunday services.
Sindelar said the offduty officer’s presence is appreciated and welcomed.
Commission member Geoffrey Varga took issue with metal panels planned on the east side of the building where the addition would be built. He advocated for more appealing materials.
“The concern about that is it may be that way for the rest of the life of the building,” he said. “And that wall faces Reynolds Road, which is the major road in the area, and that’s what you would see … is this kind of industrial-looking steel panels
“In recent years, we have been outgrowing our current site, so we explored different creative ways to accommodate our growing congregation.” — Steve Sindelar, pastor of youth and administration
and wall. I’m in agreement with the city’s requirement that it be looked at with other materials, other than steel panels.”
“Understood, thank you,” Sindelar replied.
He said the hope is to put the addition on within five years.
The permit and preliminary site plan were approved unanimously, including these conditions:
• A sidewalk shall be constructed from Adkins Road to the internal sidewalk network along the access drive.
• A 3- to 4-foot evergreen hedge shall be planted in a continuous row adjacent to the parking spaces that face Adkins to mitigate headlights from the site.
• A headlight mitigation plan shall be provided as part of the final site plan submission for the properties on Adkins directly across from the access drive.
• A study/plan shall be prepared which identifies the existing trees within the western buffer to be preserved.
“If they decide to modify the landscape buffers on the east or west sides of the property, they will also need a conditional-use permit approved by the Planning Commission for any modification,” city Planning Director Kathy Mitchell said.
Prior proposals for the site include the 23-lot Reynolds Glen subdivision in 1995 — dismissed without prejudice — and, in 1997, a Laketran Park-n-Ride, which was dismissed following much furor from neighbors.