Borough Zoning Commission (BZC) members are reviewing the details of a construction proposal to expand St Rose Church's main entrance, as well as provide adjacent landscaping, pedestrian, and traffic improvements.

Church representatives described the project to BZC members at a March 8 public hearing. The proposed 1,675-square-foot church addition would result in the northern face of the currently 10,170-square-foot building standing about 27 feet closer to Church Hill Road than it now does. The church parking lot would be repaved.

The church addition would hold new rest rooms, a crying room for restless children, as well as a brides' room for wedding-related use.

The modified church's facade would look similar to the existing facade. A new steeple would replace the existing steeple.

Engineer Katy Lynch of Langan Engineering & Environmental Services of New Haven, representing the church, said that physical changes planned for the site would improve both pedestrian access and traffic flow, while architect Brooks Fischer of Newman Architects of New Haven, representing the church, said certain changes would made at the site to make it a safer place for pedestrians.

An area near the church's main entrance to be known as a "bell garden" would feature several large bells that have been donated to the church. The artistically landscaped area would serve as a space for contemplation.

Daniel Lansing, co-chairman of the church's building committee, told BZC members that through the construction project, the church is seeking to preserve what is good at the site, as well as improve the site.

In a letter to the BZC, Rob Sibley, town deputy planning director, said that due to the site's characteristics, no wetlands protection permit would be needed for the project.

The church is seeking three BZC endorsements for the church building expansion project - a special permit, a site plan approval, and a Village District zoning certificate.

The 46 Church Hill Road site is in a R-1 (Residential) zone. It also is within the BZC's Village District (VD) overlay zone. Thus, construction work that would be visible from the street is subject to the provision's VD overlay zoning regulations, which are intended to regulate aesthetics.

In February, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), in its role as the borough's planning agency, endorsed the church project.

BZC Chairman Douglas Nelson said the public hearing on the project would resume on April 12. By then, town officials who formally commented on the church's construction plans would be able to review various plan modifications that the church has made in a set of revised plans for the project.