Church seeks buffer change

Public hearing set for second conditional-use permit, final plan for Grace Church new site

Plans for a new Grace Church home in Mentor will be back before the city Planning Commission this week.

A public hearing will be held online at 7 p.m., Oct. 22 on a conditional-use permit to allow for buffer modifications adjacent to the R-4 and R-2 single-family residential zoning districts at 7272 Adkins Road. The final site plan also is up for review.

In August, the commission approved a conditional-use permit and preliminary plan for the church to locate on 14.3 acres in an R-4 zone. The applicant is proposing a two-story, 46,000-square-foot building.

The final plan indicates a footprint for a 28,322-square-foot future addition on the east side of the proposed building. The plan also calls for an additional 292 future parking spaces at the rear of the site.

The church would have an 874-seat worship section, a six-room childcare area with a nursery, and a 13-seat café and kitchen on the first floor.

The second floor would have 11 classrooms with an additional three rooms identified for future expansion. Grace Church has been in the community for nearly 75 years and has outgrown its current site at 6883 Reynolds Road.

The church has two services on Sunday at the current location and offers various services on Wednesday evenings.

The hope is to build the addition within five years, said Steve Sindelar, pastor of youth and administration.

The landscape plan has been revised in response to comments made at the August meeting and conditions of the preliminary plan approval. The applicant must work with the property owners and the city for final planting solutions, the report says.

The church is requesting a reduction of the buffer requirements along the east and west sides of the property. The code requires a minimum 50-foot-wide buffer adjacent to a residential neighborhood for buildings more than 40,000 square feet and/or two or more stories.

A landscape bond totaling 100 percent of the cost of the plant material and installation is required prior to the issuance of a building permit.

The administration’s recommended conditions of approval include:

• All proposed buffer fencing shall be constructed of low-maintenance vinyl in lieu of wood. Fence color shall be earth tone in keeping with the building colors. Final color shall be approved by the administration prior to installation.

• Additional plantings of ornamental and evergreen shrubs along with tall grasses shall be added to the east-side buffer area. Mounding shall also be installed to help enhance the buffer, where appropriate. Plant materials and mounding shall be indicated on a revised landscape plan that shall be submitted for review and approval prior to the issuance of the building permit.

• Any existing trees that are to remain along the western property line within the remaining 330 feet of buffer area to the end of the Phase 1 line (or new plantings proposed) shall be identified and submitted for review and approval prior to the issuance of the building permit.

• Approved buffer design adjacent to the east and west property lines shall be maintained for the life of the building.

• Five additional canopy trees shall be added between the proposed sidewalk along Adkins Road and the proposed detention basin.

• All requested plant materials shall be indicated on a revised landscape plan that shall be submitted for review and approval prior to the issuance of the building permit.

• The east, west and south elevations shall include some architectural embellishments to provide some visual interest.

• All lighting intensity criteria shall be met within the most recent lighting plan. The lighting plan shall be updated with the latest site plan layout. All light fixtures shall be fully shielded.

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 neighbor opposition.