Edgewood says no to megachurch

Wes Smith | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 17, 2006



EDGEWOOD -- In a blow to proponents of a proposed "megachurch," the City Council late Tuesday rejected pleas to allow the Orlando Church of Christ to be built in the Holden Avenue neighborhood.

The church met with strong resistance from residents, and the council's rejection of a special exemption was unanimous.

At Tuesday's meeting, opponent Dean Hubbard predicted that the church would look like "a Super Wal-Mart or a convention center."

"No one wants to live next door to a convention center," he said.

City officials agreed.

On May 8, the city's Zoning Board denied the exemption.

Officials of the 750-member church, which currently meets in temporary quarters, appealed the Zoning Board's decision to the City Council.

Tuesday night, the City Council voted to deny the special exception. The council did not take up the Zoning Board's earlier decision, as had been expected.

The Zoning Board turned down the request after hearing protests from residents who feared the increased traffic from the proposed 30,000-square-foot complex.

"There are three things, really: the massive size of the building, all the traffic, and how both impact the character and economics of our neighborhood," said Jim Worthen, spokesman for the Holden Avenue Inter Neighborhood Council.

But officials representing the church congregation said traffic would occur during off-peak hours. They argued that the church will have less impact than any residential property that might go on the 10-acre tract.

Council member Neil Powell, however, noted Tuesday that church activities would include funerals, weddings, choir practices and other events that would not always fall during off-peak hours or on Sundays and could impact traffic on narrow, two-lane Holden Avenue.

He and other council members also said that a new subdivision with 169 homes along the same street would add even more traffic, heightening concerns.

Tuesday's meeting was held at another Holden Avenue house of worship, Fellowship Baptist Church, to accommodate crowds of concerned neighborhood residents. But fewer than 100 people showed up.

The proposed church site is on adjoining vacant lots at 1110 and 1120 W. Holden Ave. between South Orange Avenue and Orange Blossom Trail south of downtown Orlando.

There already are three churches nearby in the mixed neighborhood of homes ranging from $150,000 to more than $500,000.

Church of Christ minister and elder Eddie Francis said the 25-year-old congregation sold its previous church site near the University of Central Florida in 1983 and gave the proceeds to missionary efforts overseas.

Since then, the congregation has rented high schools and other facilities.

"But recently some of us have felt that going from here to there is getting old and that we need a permanent home," Francis said.

His congregation has an option to buy the Holden lots if the zoning change is approved.

Hubbard initially raised the unusual objection that the megachurch should not be allowed at the Holden location because two registered sex offenders reportedly live within 1,000 feet of the site.

The city's sex-offender ordinance, like most, prohibits registered sex offenders from moving that close to churches and schools.

But Hubbard argued that the rule should work both ways -- a place of worship should not be allowed to locate within 1,000 feet of registered sex offenders.

The head of the town's Zoning Board rejected his argument, saying the city ordinance governing registered sex offenders is meant to keep them away from churches, not vice versa.

But Zoning Board members did consider other concerns about the church's proposed size and the traffic it would bring to an already congested area.

Francis, the church minister and elder, said his racially and economically diverse congregation decided to appeal the zoning decision because it appeared to be based more on residents' concerns than on any law or compliance problems.

"If God wants us to be there, we will be there," the minister said. "If not, he will find somewhere else for us."

Wes Smith can be reached at 407-420-5672 or dwsmith@orlandosentinel.com.