Spring Valley board approves Ethiopian Orthodox church expansion permit with conditions after wide neighborhood opposition

The Spring Valley Town Advisory Board approved a request from an existing Ethiopian Orthodox congregation to expand its facilities and parking, voting to vacate easements (item 3) and to grant a use permit with several waivers and conditions (item 4). The board approved the easement vacatur on a voice vote and approved the use permit and most waiver requests with a 3‑1 vote while denying waiver number 1 (elimination of street landscaping) and adding conditions requiring rural/non‑urban road standards and pedestrian path improvements on nearby roads.

The applicant presented plans for an expansion that would include a two‑story multipurpose building of about 22,377 square feet (sports court, meeting rooms, offices, kitchen, restrooms and mechanical space), an additional single‑story “baptismal” or support building between the multipurpose room and the existing church, and a large increase in on‑site parking. The site plan shows roughly 514 parking spaces on the expanded site where the code requires about 139 spaces; the applicant submitted a parking‑demand study (Taney Engineering, 05/23/2024) to justify the increase and said the expansion is meant to serve the congregation’s current users and mitigate…