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Planning commission approves Emmanuel Temple expansion with parking and easement conditions
Summary
The City of Clermont Planning & Zoning Commission approved a conditional use permit allowing Emmanuel Temple Church to expand across three parcels and build a 2,250 sq ft sanctuary, subject to conditions on parking, fencing and an easement; the vote was unanimous.
The City of Clermont Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved Resolution 2026-007R on April 7, allowing Emmanuel Temple Church to expand its campus and construct a new 2,250-square-foot sanctuary that would seat about 130 people.
Planning staff told the commission the proposal affects three adjacent parcels east of the Bloxam Avenue and East Montrose Street intersection, totaling roughly 0.93 acres. The applicant requested three waivers: to use off-site parking on a separate parcel to meet minimum parking requirements, and two reductions to perimeter landscaping—shrinking a required 10-foot landscape buffer to five feet and reducing required plantings—so the church can accommodate the parking and building footprints. Staff recommended approval with the conditions in the resolution.
During the public hearing, Robert Halley, a senior deacon at Emmanuel Temple Church, said the congregation has about 100 members, that the church owns its properties and had $55,000 in its budget, and that leaders planned to leverage property to raise roughly $500,000 toward the expansion. A neighbor’s representative, Hattie McGriff, told the commission she spoke for Denise Slatner and said the parties had discussed three conditions: no fence on the west side of SPA 3, no reduction of the electrical easement, and no hard-surface parking on the neighbor’s frontage. Another resident, Shelby Thomas, urged the commission to consider traffic and speed mitigation on East Montrose Street, where she said many neighbors are elderly.
Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on parking math, frequency of services, ADA-compliant handicapped stalls and where the church’s shuttle bus is parked. The applicant said handicap stalls would meet ADA requirements, that the congregation generally travels to services by private vehicle and that a church bus is parked at the pastor’s house in Lakeland. Staff explained the conditional use permit (CUP) would run with the land and cover all three parcels listed in the application; staff also noted a letter of opposition had been submitted and that the applicant and neighbor had been negotiating conditions.
Commissioner Kramer moved approval with four specific recommendations: that the parking area on 709 East Montrose be grass-only; that no fence be installed on the west side of 711 East Montrose and that shrubs or trees be used there as a barrier instead; that there be no reduction of the easement from 10 to 5 feet for SPA 3; and that staff recommend appropriate speed mitigation measures for East Montrose. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. The transcript records the approval as unanimous; individual roll-call tallies were not specified in the record.
The commission’s action is a recommendation; the city council will review the resolution and any final conditions before permitting and site-review steps proceed.
