Can somebody refresh my memory as to the "compromise" the church has offered the township?
This person makes it sound as though there's something viable in the works--and as I recall, the Rev had offered lower towers (which are the least of our concerns) and fewer classrooms (but still many more than needed for 500 students).
Was there something additional he offered that I missed?
It's funny to me the same few people go to the record with their letters and say the same thing over and over: "Negotiate, don't litigate".
Last I knew it was the church threatening litigation, not the township.
Karen - You are right 110%. There is no way to "Negotiate" this matter, the plan is appropriate or it is NOT. The "olive branch" AKA the "olives thown at us" as someone said a few weeks ago, have no value at all as the plans have not been changed. There has been no official change in the application submitted by the applicant.
This man has written befor and made little sense in the past letters as well.
I know this point's been made before on the issue of a "compromise" but I think it bears repeating. The town should be very wary of any "compromise" that allows the megachurch to get its foot in the door. Until title closes the town collects from Agilent tax revenues that can defray legal costs. After that, litigation is financially more onerous.
It's foolish to think that the revenend would settle for a scaled down version forever. The whole point of this application is growth. Ultimately the megachurch will seek to expand and without Agilent's tax revenues, it will be more difficult to limit that expansion.
Simply put, a foot in the door on this will most assuredly be followed by many more feet in the not too distant future.
So they said they would reduce the number of classrooms. This does not mean they will reduce square footage. As the congregation and school grows, they can always add new partitions to create more rooms.
Another thing; The "stadium" is planned with 3000 seats. Again look at square footage. A couple of years down the road, the layout could be reconfigured to accomodate more in the existing footprint without adding bricks and morter.
