Westfield board denies height variance for Cornerstone Bible Church expansion

The Westfield board voted to disapprove a requested variance that would have increased the allowable mean building height from 25 to 33 feet for Cornerstone Bible Church’s proposed sanctuary expansion on a 4.1-acre lot in the Centennial subdivision.

The request mattered to neighbors and board members because the expansion would place a taller sanctuary closer to the street and could affect traffic, parking and nearby property values. Dane Crabtree of the Community Development Department told the board that church steeples are exempt under Article 6.6 of the Unified Development Ordinance but that the proposed increase in mean building height triggered the variance request.

The church’s architect, Barry Knechtel of KJG Architecture, told the board the addition would add about 9 feet to the sanctuary ridgeline and that the design choice was intended to maintain the church’s existing New England–style appearance. "The goal and desire is to maintain the architectural appearance that the church has," Knechtel said. He also said the church held a neighbor meeting May 5 and plans to address lighting and parking concerns raised there.

A nearby resident, Mary Catmoleski of 671 Piedmont, said the neighborhood did not expect a larger, more congested church. "It is already a megachurch. We are a neighborhood," she said, asking the board not to grant the variance because of traffic, noise and pedestrian impacts.

Board members debated whether the board’s role was to assess use or only the height variance. Crabtree explained that in single-family districts a dwelling may be increased to 35 feet if side-yard setbacks are increased, and that steeples are explicitly exempt under the UDO. He also said no traffic study had been prepared because the expansion, if submitted as conforming plans at 25 feet, would be permitted by right, making a parking study of limited value for this review.

A motion to disapprove variance 2504-VS-06 was made and seconded. The roll call vote on the negative motion to disapprove was recorded as: Doctor Keane — yes; Mister Boaler — yes; Mister Clarino — yes; Mister Plummer — yes; Mister Bunkafist — no. The motion to disapprove carried. The board will draft and adopt findings of fact reflecting the disapproval at the next meeting.

The decision blocks the church’s current design as presented; the architect and church may revise the design to meet the 25-foot standard without returning to the board, or submit a different variance request in the future. Findings of fact will be prepared for the board to adopt next month.