Church seeks variance for new building
By Frances Ruth Harris
GOSHEN — A growing congregation is seeking a variance to build a bigger church than allowed by Goshen town code.
The town's zoning board of appeals (ZBA) on Tuesday continued its public hearing on plans by the Orange County Gospel Fellowship to build a 14,000-square-foot, 400-seat church on Duck Pond Road.
Town code limits impermeable surfaces to 10 percent of a building lot, while the church is asking for 38.7 percent. The church is appealing building inspector Neal Halloran's interpretation of town code.
The ZBA, which opened the hearing two months ago, says it can't vote on the church's request until it completes the state-required environmental review.
Church representatives did not attend the meeting. Legal and engineering experts were on hand to advise the ZBA, including municipal engineer Sean T. Hoffman, town attorney Richard B. Golden, and ZBA attorney Kelly M. Naughton.
The public hearing was again continued, this time to April 19.
Resident Monty Corey says he has no problem with a new church in his neighborhood, as long as it conforms to town zoning. He said he used to own the site and knows that much of it is composed of wetlands. And he said it did poorly on percolation tests, which determine whether the soil absorption rate will accommodate a septic field.
Alan Jorgensen, who lives near the Duck Pond site, said the size of the proposed structure is not the only problem. Hundreds more cars will be coming down the Duck Pond access road as the church grows. And then there's the environmental concerns, he said.
"I'm afraid of the run-off and the water consumption," said Jorgensen.
He said 10 percent coverage would be okay, or maybe even 20 percent under certain circumstances. But 30 percent is just too much, he said, and 38.7 percent seems impossible.
"Everywhere you look, we are developing," said Jorgensen, who said the church as planned would be detrimental to his propoerty. "All the development is creating problems. Wells go dry."
Editor's note: This article was updated with the correct name of the Orange County Gospel Fellowship, which was incorrect in the original article. The Chronicle regrets the error.