P&Z Reviewing Grace Christian Fellowship Church Proposal 

By Andrew Gorosko

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) is seeking additional information from Grace Christian Fellowship on its proposal to construct a new church off Hawleyville Road (Route 25), near Exit 9 of Interstate 84.

P&Z members conducted a public hearing on the church construction proposal on October 4. The hearing will resume at an upcoming P&Z session, after the church has provided the technical details that the P&Z has requested.

No members of the public spoke on the church proposal, which was presented at the October 4 session.

The fellowship wants to build a new church on a 13.7-acre site in a R-2 zone at 4 Covered Bridge Road in Hawleyville. The group is seeking a special permit from the P&Z.

The congregation currently occupies a 13,500-square-foot church about one mile away at 174 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6). The group wants to build a new larger church to meet the needs of its expanding congregation.

Plans submitted by the group call for a 32,191-square-foot church, of which 29,053 square feet represents the main level, 2,086 square feet would be covered space, and 1,052 square feet would be a mezzanine.

The church would contain a main assembly hall holding 518 seats for church services. The church would enclose a sanctuary, baptistery, office space, kitchen facilities, a nursery, and youth facilities, plus various meeting rooms and gathering spaces.

Last May, the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) approved a wetlands permit for regulated construction work at the site. Pond Brook runs through the area.

The IWC had rejected the church’s 2006 application for a wetlands permit, citing site design deficiencies. The church appealed that rejection in Danbury Superior Court. The church later filed a revised wetlands application, which the IWC approved last May.

Attorney Camille DeGalan of Danbury, representing the church, told P&Z members on October 4 that an expanding church membership has required the church to seek larger facilities. The church expects additional growth in the future, she said.

In January 2004, the group purchased the land on which the church would be built, she said. The project has progressed through various versions until reaching the version now under consideration by the P&Z, she noted.

Ms DeGalan said the church would be constructed well back from Hawleyville Road, noting that the structure would be “very well buffered” from adjacent properties.

Engineer Dainius Virbickas, of Artel Engineering Group, LLC, of Brookfield, representing the church, said church members had considered many possible versions of a new church before settling on the proposal now pending before the P&Z. Initially, in 2004, church members considered constructing a church as large as 70,000 square feet, he noted.

The current proposal meets all applicable town zoning regulations and wetlands regulations, Mr Virbickas said.

Vehicle access to the structure would be provided from Hawleyville Road (Route 25), he said. A church driveway on the west side of Hawleyville Road would lie about 350 feet south of  eastbound I-84’s Exit 9 off-ramp. The driveway serving the church site would cross a wetland via a new bridge, Mr Virbickas said. Secondary access to the site for emergency vehicles would be provided via Covered Bridge Road, he said.

Traffic engineers Barkan & Mess Associates of Branford conducted a traffic study for the project. “The amount of new traffic added to the roadway [Hawleyville Road] will not adversely affect traffic operations in the study area,” according to the traffic engineers. 

Vehicle parking would be provided on all four sides of the church. Parking facilities would include 156 paved spaces, as well as 42 spaces that would be located atop specialized pavers, Mr Virbickas said. Those pavers would allow stormwater to drain through them and into the soil below.

It was the IWC’s concerns over the extent of paved parking area on the site which posed a developmental issue for the project, with the IWC wanting the church to minimize the amount of pavement on the site.

Mr Virbickas explained that, as requested by the IWC, there would be an extensive underground stormwater drainage control system buried beneath the church’s parking lot.

The United Water Company would extend its public water supply system from Mt Pleasant Road to the church site to provide the church with water, he said.

The church property would employ a septic waste disposal system, he added.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean noted that the town health department has posed some technical questions about the proposed septic system’s maximum daily sewage flow rate. 

Mr Virbickas said site landscaping would include the planting of new deciduous trees and evergreens, as well as various bushes. The church would work to preserve some of the existing trees on the site, he added.

Lighting would be installed along the parking lot’s perimeter, he said. Those lighting fixtures would direct their illumination downward toward the ground, he said. The driveway also would be lit.

Of the architectural design, Mr Virbickas said, “It’s churchlike, and I think it looks nice.”

Designed by Archdesign Group, LLC, of Danbury, the church would have a traditional appearance with a tall central steeple flanked by two cupolas positioned atop two large gables. Facing brick would cover exterior walls.

P&Z member Robert Mulholland noted that the church reduced its initial concept for a 70,000-square-foot building to a roughly 30,000-square-foot building.

Mr Mulholland asked whether the fellowship would eventually propose some church expansion project.

The 13.7-acre site provides the potential for a future church expansion, according to church representatives.

Ms Dean said the church should submit for P&Z review several pieces of information before the public hearing resumes.

Required are: a letter from United Water stating that it would provide water service to the church; a response to health department concerns about septic waste disposal on the site; the specifications for signs that would be posted on the property; and information on the brightness levels provided by outdoor lighting fixtures on the site.