Clark County approves phased expansion, parking plan for Saint Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Church with strict conditions

The Clark County Zoning Commission on Sept. 10 approved a phased expansion and parking plan for Saint Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Spring Valley, imposing a package of conditions aimed at limiting neighborhood impacts while allowing the congregation to address persistent parking and crowding problems.

Attorney Bob Groenauer, representing the church, told the commission the project would consolidate development on about 8 of the church’s 10 acres and reduced the originally proposed building area from roughly 54,000 to about 32,000 square feet. Groenauer said the multipurpose facility was reconfigured from two stories to one and that parking was reduced substantially from earlier iterations while still adding more on-site spaces to reduce street spillover.

Neighbors and supporters filled the hearing. Opponents described the plan as out of scale for a rural preservation neighborhood and warned of increased traffic, noise and enforcement challenges; speakers used terms such as "megachurch" and said the proposed capacity and parking could…