By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
Westerly Road Church officials made their case to the Regional Planning Board last week that its proposal for a new church on the Princeton Ridge balanced concerns of environmentalists with their need to serve a growing congregation.
The church has proposed a 44,940-square-foot building on an 18.58-acre lot off Bunn Drive and Herrontown Road. The proposal has drawn opposition from environmental groups, as The Ridge is considered environmentally sensitive.
More than 100 people turned out Thursday night for the meeting, where plans were presented for a one-story church with a worship area seating 520 people, a multipurpose room, classrooms, nursery, kitchen, administrative offices and an atrium that will serve as a gathering place for church members.
The congregation is hoping to finally secure the board’s approval, after unsuccessful efforts in the 1990s and 2002, when the church looked into expanding on its current property or relocating elsewhere in Princeton Township.
In those cases, the township did not agree with the church’s need to relocate, and the expansion plans were thought to threaten the Westerly Road property with overdevelopment.
The sanctuary of the church’s current location holds 249 people at a time. About 450 people typically worship at the church each Sunday between two services, Pastor Matthew Ristuccia said. More than half of those are Princeton residents, he said.
Testifying before the board, Pastor Ristuccia asked the board in reviewing the proposal to consider ecology “more broadly,” to encompass both the natural and human environment.
He discussed the ways the church has contributed to the community in the over 50 years since its founding, including through volunteer work, counseling services, contributions to charity, services to the immigrant community, summer vacation Bible school, and serving as a chaplain to the Princeton Township police.
”These intangibles are real parts of a community’s ecology and — here’s the real rub — require physical space to occur,” he said.
The facility was not intended to become a “super church,” he said. Another congregation would be spun off if church membership expands to more than about 750, he said.
The church already has a sister congregation in West Windsor Township called Windsor Chapel, which was founded in the 1970s.
Attorney Dan Haggerty said the church is “committed” to staying in Princeton, but it wasn’t easy to find an available, feasible site. The church entered into a contract with Princeton Research Lands Inc. to purchase the property two years ago, he said. Plans were developed to fall within the permitted use for the property, zoned as an office/research zone, he said.
The church is eager to secure necessary approvals for the property, in part because of concerns over sewer service, Mr. Haggerty said.
Counties are under order from the state to update their sewer service maps, according to Township Engineer Bob Kiser. The property may be removed because it is considered environmentally sensitive, making the development not feasible, he said.
As of last month, the site is shown on county maps as in a sewer service area, Mr. Haggerty said.
The plans drew criticism from three municipal boards that had reviewed the application prior to the meeting.
Associate Pastor John Beeson said the environment was at the “forefront of our minds” in designing the church. All suggestions had been “seriously considered,” and incorporated into the design where feasible.
William Wolfe, chairman of the Site Plan Review Advisory Board, asked the Planning Board to give particular attention to three of the 37 comments the board had submitted on the proposal.
Firstly, he asked that the board not approve the application until the applicant had demonstrated that state-regulated stormwater standards had been met.
Much of the concern about the project from environmentalists relates to the management of stormwater runoff on the property. Plans call for a retention basin on the southern portion of the property.
Planning Director Lee Solow said stormwater currently runs off to the north of the property, making its way eventually to the Millstone River, and is expected to continue to do so after construction.
The proposal to remove 500 trees for construction has also drawn criticism from environmentalists.
A landscape architect report submitted by the applicant said that 150 of those trees are dead or declining.
The applicant plans to replant 213 trees and 700 shrubs. Under township code, the church will be required to make a monetary contribution toward the planting of the other 287 elsewhere in the township.
The site sits in a “pivotal” center of a large section of connected woodlands, Mr. Wolfe said, and the project threatens to divide that woodlands into two parts.
He suggested that the project be consolidated to the north and west of the property to minimize environmental impact of the project. The change would require an ordinance, but preserve more continuous woodland, he said.
He also said the applicant did not adequately consider a two-story design, minimizing the building’s footprint on the site while saving on material costs.
”We didn’t feel this applicant had taken a very close look at what to do with this very sensitive site,” Mr. Wolfe said.
Pastor Beeson said the one-story design provides easy access for young children, elderly and the disabled, while providing sunlight to classrooms. The proposed design utilizes only half of the permitted floor area ratio on the property, he said.
Planning Board member Peter Madison said Thursday night’s testimony did not convince him that portions of the design, such as the classrooms and administrative offices, could not be stacked, he said.
Although the project complies with all zoning regulations, it needs to be considered that the area is recognized as environmentally sensitive in the township Master Plan, he said.
”I don’t understand two stories versus one story for the church,” he said.
Also standing in opposition to the plans was the Princeton Environmental Commission, according to member Wendy Kaczerski.
She discussed the body’s many recommendations, including reduction of impervious cover, a redesign of the building to make it two stories, a revision of its stormwater management plan, a reduction in parking or a two level garage, a reduction in tree removal, an additional habitat study of wildlife on the property.
The parking lot is proposed to have spaces for 220 cars, a reduction of 68 from earlier plans.
The commission also suggested the undeveloped portion of the property is placed under a conservation easement, and
Lily Krauss, chairwoman of the Shade Tree Commission, also suggested the addition of sustainable elements to the project, including a reduction of the total size of the parking lot, the use of permeable material in the construction of the lot, and the use of rain gardens in the lot to absorb runoff.
The meeting concluded at 11 p.m., as per the board’s custom. It will continue o May 20, when the public will have a chance to weigh in on the proposal.
ksnodgrass
@centraljersey.com
