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Board approves Trinity Presbyterian’s small meditation chapel with parking and replat conditions after neighbors raise concerns
Summary
The Fairhope Board of Adjustment voted unanimously Oct. 20 to allow a 700-square-foot ‘memory’ or meditation chapel at Trinity Presbyterian Church, conditioned on a parking layout plan and an administrative replat to combine parcels. Neighbors raised concerns about parking, noise and possible future expansion on adjacent church-owned lots.
The Fairhope Board of Adjustment on Oct. 20 approved BOA 25.12 to allow construction of a roughly 700‑square‑foot memory or meditation chapel on church-owned property near Fig Avenue, subject to two staff conditions: provision of a parking-layout plan showing compliant parking for the fellowship hall and the new chapel, and completion of an administrative replat combining the relevant church parcels prior to issuance of building permits.
Staff presented the site as an undeveloped portion of the larger Trinity Presbyterian Church complex, noting several historic lot lines across the property and that previous BOA approvals for the church date to 1968 and 2014. Staff said the proposed chapel would seat about 16 people and that the applicant intends to use existing church parking adjacent to the fellowship hall; staff recommended approval with the two conditions above.
Melissa Nolte of Walcott Adams Rinnell Architects said the chapel is intended as a quiet, meditative space open to both church members and neighbors during daytime hours. "This chapel seats right around 16 folks... It is literally a place for you to come in, sit down, say a prayer, just have some quiet time," Nolte said. Architect Lee Vernell said the chapel is intentionally small, low impact and would be monitored by the church office camera system: "The concept of this chapel was to not necessarily be a large chapel for weddings... This was meant to be a meditative, prayerful space." Pastor Matt McCollum added that the church intends the structure to be a "place set apart" for quiet reflection.
Several neighbors spoke at the public hearing. Concerns focused on parking during funerals and Sunday services, the church’s practice of acquiring nearby residential lots and converting them to parking, noise from fellowship-hall events, and uncertainty about whether a BOA approval for the chapel could make future, larger expansion easier. Judy Oxford and others said they support the chapel itself but are worried about cumulative impacts if additional buildings or parking are added later. Staff and applicants responded that any future buildings or changes would require separate public hearings under current regulations and that the replat and parking-layout condition are intended to address immediate parking questions.
After discussion the board approved BOA 25.12 with the two staff conditions. The motion carried unanimously by roll call.
