Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Commission approves Redeeming Love Church addition and waives extra parking work
Loading...
Summary
The commission approved a conditional use permit amendment and design review for Redeeming Love Church (2425 White Bear Avenue North), recommending the project to City Council with a friendly amendment that the applicant is not required to perform additional parking‑lot work beyond necessary repairs. Staff said the single‑story addition and interior remodel will begin in June and aim for completion in November.
The Maplewood Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of a conditional use permit amendment and design review for Redeeming Love Church at 2425 White Bear Avenue North, with an amendment that the city will not require additional parking‑lot work beyond pothole repairs and necessary restriping.
Staff told commissioners the site (about nine acres) contains an existing building of roughly 53,000 square feet and that the applicant proposes a single‑story addition to improve the entrance and install an ADA lift; staff said construction is expected to begin in June and finish in November. The CUP for a religious facility was first approved in 1993 and the project was reviewed by the design board earlier in the process.
Why it matters: the church’s addition and reconfiguration change the layout of on‑site parking and the commission weighed requiring landscape medians against preserving needed stalls. Staff described code parking requirements (one space per four occupants) and stated the current site has about 367 stalls and that the reconfigured lot would result in roughly 395 stalls, meaning no additional parking was required under staff analysis.
Applicant comments and safety: Brad Stamp, the church’s administrative pastor, said the congregation has not experienced parking accidents and expressed concern that adding planters or bulky medians could create maintenance issues (snow removal) and reduce necessary spaces. “We’ve never had that happen,” Stamp said of crashes on the site.
Vote and next steps: after a public hearing with no public commenters, a motion to approve the CUP amendment with the friendly amendment (no additional parking‑lot work required beyond repairs) was seconded and passed by voice vote. The recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for review on April 13.
Clarifications: staff noted some environmental review comments will require species substitutions in the landscape plan and that the final occupant load and parking requirement will be confirmed by the building official at time of permit and occupancy certification.
The commission closed the public hearing after no members of the public requested to speak and moved the item to council with the stated conditions.
