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New Hope Baptist Church proposes new parking layout, commissioners table review to June 11
Summary
New Hope Baptist Church presented a reconfigured parking and stormwater plan for its First Street property; the Planning and Zoning Commission asked for wetlands and fire-turning-radius checks and tabled the application to June 11, 2025.
Alan Borgesi, an engineer representing New Hope Baptist Church, presented a site-plan modification to reconfigure parking and stormwater controls at the church property on First Street during the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting May 21.
Borgesi said the parcel is in a LB (local business) zone and covers about 4.5 acres. "The parking requirement is 45 cars," he told the commission, and the new plan proposes 35 parking spaces with a future overflow area that could add about 34 gravel spaces. He said the design includes a detention pond to manage increased impervious area and that, with the pond, runoff would be less than pre-construction conditions.
Justin Farmer, administrative pastor at New Hope Baptist Church, said the church has been renovating the property since moving there in 2020 and is experiencing growth that prompted a parking redesign. Landscape architect Robert Stevens described a plan that preserves nearly all existing trees except four damaged specimens and adds native plantings, red maples and Sargent crabapples along the road frontage.
Commission staff and the engineer flagged additional items that must be resolved before final action: a wetlands report is required and the commission asked the applicant to verify fire apparatus turning radii and revise any access layouts that do not meet the fire department standard. "If it doesn't meet the fire apparatus radius, we will adjust it," Borgesi said. Planning staff said they were awaiting final written comments from the city engineer and a wetlands review.
Commissioners tabled the site-plan review and set the matter for continuation on June 11, 2025, to allow the applicant to supply the outstanding reports and any required plan revisions.
Why it matters: The proposal would reorganize parking and on-site drainage for a growing church and includes landscaping and stormwater improvements; wetlands and emergency-access compliance are outstanding requirements that determine whether the plan can move to approval.
The commission asked the applicant to attend the June 11 meeting if final reports are ready so commissioners can address any remaining questions in person.
