Church site up to voters

By ED RUNYAN

runyan@vindy.com

BAZETTA

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Township residents voting May 4 will be asked to decide a referendum on a zoning change requested by a local church and approved last summer by township trustees.

Trustees approved a zoning change from R-1 residential to R-2 residential for 34 acres on the east side of Bazetta Road just south of state Route 305.

The land is owned by Calvary Bible Church, which has proposed building a church on the property, along with baseball and soccer fields. Calvary is a three-year-old, 150-member, interdenominational evangelical church led by Pastor Dan Weber that meets at the Jericho Center, 2878 Warren-Meadville Road in Bazetta.

Township Trustees Michael Piros and William Glancy approved the zoning change 2-0 with Trustee Paul Hovis abstaining.

Hovis, the only trustee of the three still on the board, said the main reason the board approved the zone change was that their legal adviser, Atty. Mark Finamore, said the church might have substantial legal options available to them if trustees refused the change.

Finamore said the church’s attorney, Gil Rieger, advised township officials that rejecting the zone change might be viewed as a violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act passed by Congress in 2000.

The law prevents a township or other government entity from imposing a “substantial burden” on an individual or religious assembly in the exercise of religious freedoms, Finamore said.

One of the main problems in Bazetta Township is that there is essentially no other land available with the type of zoning necessary to build a church, Finamore said.

“You have essentially zoned out churches,” Finamore said, adding that the law was designed to prevent that from happening.

If the church were to take legal action against the township under the law, the township might incur extremely high legal fees, Finamore said.

The church needs R-2 zoning to build and would also need a variance from the township’s zoning board of appeals to use more than five acres, Finamore said.

Rita Benoit, one of the Bazetta residents who organized the petition drive to get the measure on the ballot, said she and others object to the rezoning because the church is likely to increase traffic and noise in the area, especially if the church builds athletic fields.

Benoit, who lives on Andrews Drive, a short distance south of the property, said she’s also concerned that the church might sell the land to someone else who might develop it into some sort of multifamily development, such as apartments.

“The main thing is, ‘Would you want something like that in your back yard?’” Benoit said.

Pastor Weber said the church, for more than a year, has tried to respond to any concerns voiced by nearby homeowners, such as stormwater runoff. He said that with 34 acres available, the church will have no problem providing a buffer between the church and the residents.

“We feel like we can give the neighbors enough room to respect their privacy,” he said.

Sherry Nuzzi, a member of Calvary Bible Church Building Committee, said the church has plans for a sanctuary, kitchen, multi-purpose room, Sunday School rooms, activity area and offices. The square footage of the building is not finalized, she said. The cost is expected to be about $1 million.

The church’s interest in baseball and soccer fields is not to form athletic leagues, Nuzzi said — only to provide “family support” activities for church members.

“It’s an out-flow of the people who attend the church and the needs of the family,” she said.