River of Life Church pickleball/tennis site plan hearing continued to Aug. 25; parking waiver, stormwater and conservation review pending

The Select Board continued to Aug. 25 a public hearing on a multi-part application from River of Life Church to build an indoor tennis and pickleball facility at 45 Nagog Park.

Project summary: The applicant proposes three structures on the church-owned site: a clubhouse/entrance building, an enclosed pickleball structure, and an enclosed tennis structure, sited on the southerly portion of the lot near Nagog Park Drive. The application requests (1) site plan special permit, (2) special permit for commercial recreation/outdoor recreation (as applicable to enclosed courts under the zoning bylaw), and (3) a reduction in the bylaw-required number of parking spaces.

Parking and program use: The property currently has roughly 207 parking spaces across two lots (western main lot 153 spaces and an overflow lot with 54 spaces). The applicant proposes to reconfigure parking and keep the west lot largely intact but to remove the overflow lot in the area covered by new buildings, resulting in a proposed 148 spaces in the post-construction configuration. By a literal application of the zoning parking table (church, office, and recreation uses combined) the site would require 581 spaces. The applicant provided an occupancy-based demand analysis using historical church attendance (average regular Sunday attendance ~120 people equating to ~40 parking spaces; special events up to 200), expected racquet-club staffing and player counts, and estimates of carpooling and family arrivals. Using conservative assumptions the applicant estimated a Sunday peak combined demand between 117 and 158 spaces (their realistic estimate ~117) and requested a parking reduction by special permit.

Environmental and technical issues: The applicant presented a stormwater plan that retains and upgrades an existing detention basin, adds pre-treatment (proprietary storm-treatment units) and infiltration to manage new impervious area. The project has an ongoing Conservation Commission review (wetlands filing) and peer review comments were provided by the town's consultant; the applicant said they received the peer review letter shortly before the meeting and would respond. The board also raised building code/energy questions (heating fuel for the tension-fabric structures), traffic/drop-off patterns given nearby residential and school uses, accessible parking count, bicycle parking and potential sidewalk improvements; the board noted Nagog Park Drive is privately owned and suggested the applicant explore overflow parking arrangements with adjacent owners if needed.

Public comment: Neighbors and users spoke both in support (noting demand for courts and applicant experience with insulated structures) and with caution about noise, traffic and preservation of tree buffers. Several board members flagged the need for more precise responses to peer review and planning staff comments and recommended the Conservation Commission complete its review before the board acted.

Board action: The hearing was continued to the Select Board meeting on August 25, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. in the Francis Faulkner Hearing Room to allow the applicant to respond to peer review, to coordinate with Conservation, and to provide refined civil, stormwater, parking and accessibility details.