Church expansion plans won't be parked
Thu May 15, 2008
By: By Chris Hall
PORT PERRY -- St. John's Presbyterian Church, along with most other worship facilities within the municipality's borders, will soon be exempt from a Township bylaw that requires thousands of dollars to be paid out in lieu of the creation of new parking spaces. Appearing before Scugog councillors on Monday evening, Alex Williamson, a representative for the St. John's church, stressed a much-needed expansion at the historic Queen Street church would have to be shelved unless the Township waived its cash-in-lieu policy regarding parking. Typically, the municipality requires a payment of $2,500 per space when an applicant cannot provide the number of parking stalls as stipulated under the Township's rules pertaining to new buildings, expansions or rezonings. However, if the expansion goes ahead as planned, the St. John's church would be on the hook for thousands of dollars, Mr. Williamson told councillors. He estimated that the church would have to pony up $142,500 to cover off the costs of 57 spaces. That figure, though, was amended somewhat by Gene Chartier, who noted that amount included all of the church's parking spots, not just the additional stalls. "The picture is not as bad as it appears, but there would still be a significant cost," said Mr. Chartier, the Township's commissioner of planning and public works. Regardless of that little piece of good news, Mr. Williamson stressed the church would have to "abandon any expansion plans because (providing the cash-in-lieu of parking funds) would seriously impact our available funds." He later noted he believed such regulations were put in place for commercial matters, and not churches, and requested the Township exempt St. John's church from paying the fees. To stress his point, Mr. Williamson noted neighbouring facilities, such as Town Hall 1873 and the Masonic Lodge, have very little parking of their own, which meant that their guests usually parked in the St. John's church lot. The concerns of the church caught the attention of Scugog Mayor Marilyn Pearce, who suggested Mr. Williamson was "probably right" and instructed staff to grant the exemption and revamp the municipality's bylaws. "We want to keep our churches downtown," she said. As part of the amendments to the bylaw, it was suggested churches in Port Perry's main central area, as well as places of worship within hamlet boundaries across the municipality, be exempt from the parking requirements. St. John's Presbyterian Church recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and has a "long and historic association with the town and its heritage," Mr. Williamson said. He explained that, in addition to offering a place of worship, the church also serves as a venue for exercise classes, music groups and the Lake Scugog Historical Society. "There are a variety of people who need our facility," Mr. Williamson said. The church, he continued, is "aged, dated and needs to be modernized and expanded" to accommodate handicapped parking and washroom facilities, as well as meeting rooms. "In all, we need a major expansion program," he said. As part of the church's expansion plan, the facility would grow from its existing 353 square metres to a total of 783 square metres in two development phases. The first development of 288 square metres would be added to the back (north) end of the building, with a second addition of 142 square metres attached to that. The church, noted Mr. Williamson, would like to get to work on the expansion "as soon as possible," with construction perhaps starting this fall.