Danbury Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church proposes gym and ministry center; neighbors raise lighting and traffic concerns

Church leaders and their project team presented a plan on July 28 to add a gymnasium, classrooms and expanded parking to the Danbury Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church at 67 Turkey Plain Road. Pastor Bry Lourenco said the church has been in the community for about 30 years and described the proposal as a “gym and ministry center” intended to serve church members and the wider Bethel community.

Engineer Harry Rocheville of McCord Engineering outlined the site work, saying the roughly 4-acre property will keep rooftop runoff routed to a detention system and that the team’s parking calculations called for a minimum of 109.3 spaces; “We’re providing a 115, and that includes the, necessary accessible parking spaces,” Rocheville said. He also described a DO100A code-compliant septic approach and an underground detention system to manage stormwater and reduce peak flows for up to a 100-year storm.

Neighbors who spoke at the hearing expressed concern about lighting and nighttime hours. Resident Matthew Steele said an existing backlight “beams right into my living room” and asked what protections would limit future light and hours if the property ever changed hands. Designer Lucia clarified that the project team does not intend to operate a K–12 school as part of the addition and described planned gym hours on weekdays and limited weekend use.

Commission members and staff said they support the project concept but asked the applicant to provide specific revisions and documentation — including a foot-candle lighting plan, details on timers or motion detection for lot lighting, and an engineered traffic/sight-line submission — before the commission takes final action. The hearing remains open for additional submittals and will be continued per the commission’s schedule.