Christ Church is now holding a Saturday service at its Montclair cathedral and the planning board chairman in Rockaway Township, where the 5,000-member church wants to relocate, said today he wouldn't necessarily object if a second day of services was scheduled on Green Pond Road.
"If the traffic issue is resolved on Sunday, then it is resolved on Saturday, as well," board chairman Mort Dicker said.
Traffic is among the top concerns cited by building plan opponents in Rockaway Township. The church is planning two Sunday services, at 8 and 11 a.m., at a 2,512-seat sanctuary on the 107-acre, former Agilent Technologies site.
Christ Church currently holds four Sunday services at its 900-seat cathedral in Montclair. A fifth was eliminated to accommodate a 7 p.m. Saturday service that debuted last weekend, church spokesman Marc Weinstein said.
Dicker said he didn't believe that the church would require special permission to add a Saturday service, for example, or a third service on Sunday.
"The whole purpose is trying to find a finite amount of traffic that can be anticipated, and the capability of it being handled at a particular time," Dicker said.
Dicker said he didn't expect there would be a problem if the church were to say, "hey, things have changed ... we now plan to put in a third service" at 1:30 p.m. Sundays.
Weinstein said there are no plans for more than two services in Rockaway Township, both on Sundays.
"At this point, they are committed to the number of services they stated in their testimony to the planning board," Weinstein said.
"I can't say what is going to happen five years from now. Nobody has a crystal ball," Weinstein said.
Christ Church, founded by a handful of families in 1986, had grown to 500 people by 1994. It had 5,000 members by the time it unveiled its mega-church proposal in Rockaway Township in 2003. Weinstein said today that the church's membership remained at 5,000.
Several factors contributed to the church's decision to add a Saturday service and drop a Sunday service, Weinstein said. There is limited parking in Montclair, he said. Some congregants indicated that they would prefer a Saturday service, he said.
Weinstein added that the five Sunday services were taking a "physical and mental toll" on Pastor David Ireland.
Christ Church hearings before the planning board have been underway since Dec. 15, 2003. The 27th and 28th hearings will be held on May 1 and May 15, with a 29th scheduled in June.
Dicker said he didn't know whether the board would be prepared to reach a decision by the end of June, when an extension granted by Christ Church is due to expire.
Christ Church has authorized several extensions beyond the 120-day limit, he said -- something that is not unusual in large-scale zoning applications, Dicker said.
"This is such an immense application, with so much testimony, that it just takes its time," Dicker said, adding that Christ Church recently submitted a new design of an interior roadway on the site.
Meanwhile, Weinstein said no court hearings had yet been scheduled on a federal lawsuit, filed last April, by Christ Church.
The lawsuit accuses the mayor, planning board, township council and environmental commission of stalling and trying to undermine the building plan.
Township officials have denied the allegations and defended their handling of the application.
In addition to the sanctuary, Christ Church wants to build a private K-5 school and recreation facilities.
The church, last August, acquired the site from Agilent Technologies for $10.25 million and received permission, one month later, to move its administrative offices there.
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The truth wins out over slick PR and personal attacks.
The Christ Church Plan for the redevelopment of 140 Green Pond Rd is just too big for the area.
"Dicker said he didn't expect there would be a problem if the church were to say, "hey, things have changed ... we now plan to put in a third service" at 1:30 p.m. Sundays."
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Today an extra service; tomorrow five extra services; the day after, electronic feeds to the acnillary areas of the building so that he can entertain 4000 people at a shot.
Don't you just love proactive thinkers like Dicker?
