Apostolic church denied permit

By John M. Ayers

The Gilchrist County Planning Commission’s five members present were split in their decision Monday night as they denied True Life Apostolic Church a Special Use Permit to relocate into Gilchrist County.
The church pastor, Max L Bass, presented a plan to the county’s building department indicating the church would build a 14,000 square foot facility just south of the intersection of CR 232 and CR 341 on 19 acres in southwest Gilchrist County. The pastor told the planning commission that their church is 10 years old and they currently have 60 members in their congregation.
As the planning commission began to deliberate to reach a decision, board member Michelle Crawford looked into the audience and explained, “I see the fathers and the grandfathers of Roger Mathis and other family members that have lived in that community all of their lives. These residents are the people that will be affected by this change in the area. I move to deny Special Use Permit 2010-08 because the size of the facility is not conducive to the rural A-2 agriculture community.”
Roosevelt Stalvey agreed and gave a second in support of the motion for discussion.
Chairman Alan Mikell called for a vote, and the members recorded a 3-2 in favor of the motion to deny.
Board member Chaillie Wilson indicated that she was abstaining from the vote because she did not want to vote.
County attorney John McPherson explained that a board member can’t abstain from a vote unless the member has a conflict of interest.
Gilchrist County Administrator Ron McQueen told the board there were four criteria the commission had to consider in their decision involving the Special Use Permit.
1. Whether the proposed use is consistent with the county Comprehensive Land Use Plan and complies with all regulations and standards. The county staff finds the proposed use meets the criterion.
2. Whether the proposed use will have compatibility and harmony with nearby properties. The staff finds the proposed use meets this criterion.
3. Whether necessary public infrastructure is available to the proposed site and the concurrency management has been fulfilled by the proposed use. Staff finds the proposed use to meet this criterion.
4. Whether the proposed use will have screening and buffers of such dimension, type, character to improve the compatibility and harmony with adjacent properties. The county staff finds this proposed use meets this criterion.
Pastor Bass told the commission that his congregation is currently located in the Beachville area of Suwannee County and they want to move to Gilchrist County to save their members the long travel.
Commission Chairman Alan Mikell asked Pastor Bass why did his church find this area so promising. The pastor explained the 19.2 acres of property is zoned A-2 and does allow a religious facility to be located within this zoning. The existing church has outgrown their current location and they use the woman’s club in Branford for their fellowship hall.
The chairman asked if anyone from the public would like to address the board involving Special Use Permit 2010-08.
Roger Mathis, a resident who lives in the proposed area, told the board that he was against this Special Use Permit because it will increase the traffic in the area and negatively impact this agricultural area.
Sandra Laneau, a resident who lives just south of the proposed property, told the board she and her husband and their two children live on 20 acres adjacent to the proposed site.
“We have planted pines on our property, but it will be years before they are large enough for a buffer,” Laneau said. “We were told by an elderly couple who came to our home that they would be building a retirement home on the 20 acres, and we were thankful at that time that we would have good neighbors. Then all of a sudden we see the Notice of Meeting sign on the property and now a 14,000 square foot church is being proposed for this property. My husband hunts on our property, and this will change things completely. When we look north, we can’t miss seeing this large church building,” she explained.
As the church grows, the already busy traffic on CR 341 will increase, Laneau continued. This large facility will have storm water retention areas and asphalt parking lots that will increase mosquitoes and other problems.
“We were mislead, lied to about what was going to be built next door to us,” Laneau continued.
Dawn Mikell told the board that the busy intersection at CR 341 and CR 232, near the proposed site has had several traffic fatalities at this location.
“If you have ever heard the screeching tires and the sounds of the impact of the vehicles when a wreck occurs, seeing a little boy killed at this site, you’ll never forget it,” Mikell explained.
Pastor Bass asked the Commission chairman if he could address these concerns by the residents.
“I want to apologize to the family that was misled by the proposed construction,” Bass explained. “Some of our members want to move into Gilchrist County and build nice homes and make this area their home.”
County attorney John McPherson told the board that when he visited the area he saw open lands, and he did not see any problems involving adjoining property owners.
Pastor Bass told the board that Gilchrist County was the church’s area of choice.
“We have looked for property along CR 232 and finally were told about this property. When we contacted the owners, we were told they wanted to build a church on the property and when they learned we wanted to build our sanctuary on this property, the owners donated the property to the church,” he explained.
The chairman asked what was the pleasure of the board.
Craig Watson asked Bass what type of buffer did he plan to have to reduce impact to the adjacent property owners. The pastor explained cedar trees and pines trees that are used currently by existing dairies in Gilchrist County.
“I don’t want to see a church constructed in an area that they are not in harmony with,” Watson explained. “It is going to be difficult for me to vote against a house of worship in Gilchrist County.”
As the lengthy discussion had drawn down to comments from the board, Michelle Crawford gave her motion to deny SUP 2010-08; and board member Stalvey agreed for discussion. The board approved the motion to deny the application. The chairman told the pastor they could contact the Gilchrist County Building Department for information involving filing an appeal for the board’s action.
The applicant, True Life Apostolic Church, Inc. has 20 days beginning August 24, 2010 to file an appeal. An appeal would be heard by the Gilchrist County Board of Commissioners.