Planning commission approves Be Hope Church minor expansion with amended condition on parking connections

The Beavercreek Planning Commission approved a minor modification to PUD529 allowing Be Hope Church to construct roughly a 3,200-square-foot southern addition, add a new southern entry and adjust parking and landscaping. The commission amended a staff condition to require submission of final construction drawings showing how the addition will meet minimum parking requirements and provide appropriate connections to the existing parking field.

Steven Butler of Community Civil Engineers, representing the applicant, told the commission the design team had delayed survey work because of snow but intends to meet ADA and operational requirements. “We will absolutely be complying with the ADA requirements,” Butler said, adding that the design team likely will exceed minimum accessibility requirements given congregation needs.

A commissioner who said he lives a couple of doors from the site raised concerns that the proposal removes approximately 10 existing handicap-accessible spaces near several doors and asked whether emergency egress would be preserved. Butler said the egress points are expected to remain and that the project team is working through a parking and circulation reconfiguration to improve drop-off and circulation for the daycare and congregation.

Commissioners voted to first amend condition 8 to add the staff-proposed language requiring final construction drawings that demonstrate compliance with parking ratios and connections to the remainder of the lot; after adopting the amendment, the commission approved the minor modification with nine conditions as amended. Staff noted the case is a minor modification and therefore is decided at the planning commission level rather than city council.