Blog: GrX Building, Planning Commission Hearing
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GrX Building, Planning Commission Hearing - Thursday, October 9, 2008
The church I've been attending, Great Exchange Covenant Church (GrX), has, since its inception several years ago, not had a building to call its own. This has been a burden as we have to set up and pack up our equipment at the place we're renting every week, and a few months ago our equipment was actually stolen from our storage truck. The lack of our own building has also made it less effective for hosting ministries during the week.
Recently we entered into an agreement to lease and hopefully eventually purchase a building in a light industrial zone in Santa Clara. However, due to the zoning, we cannot assemble there unless we have a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from the city. Last night we went before the Santa Clara City Planning Commission to try to make our case for getting the CUP.
I was encouraged to see somewhere around 200 (about a third of the total membership) from GrX at the hearing. We totally packed out the council chambers, which had a max occupancy of 150, and members of the fire department actually came and made some of us go out into the lobby. We definitely made an impression on the council with our presence.
Dalan Chan, our Operations Director, spoke on behalf of the church and made a case that we are a good use for the land in several different aspects. A short video was shown, 200 signed petitions and letters from businesses in favor of our CUP were referenced, and a long line of audience members spoke on behalf of the church. We had 13 people scheduled to speak, but I think the actual number who went up was three times that! There was a small handful of people, mostly from neighboring businesses, who spoke in opposition to our use of the building. The portion of the session regarding us lasted no less than three hours! It would've gone on even longer had the council not cut our line of speakers short.
The two things the council took issue with were our shortage of parking (we'd have too small of a parking lot if our projected growth held in a few year's time), and that "sensitive receptors," children and elderly, might be exposed to the kinds of chemicals that neighboring companies (now or any time in the future) would be permitted to use under the light industrial zoning laws. The council didn't make a decision on our CUP; instead, they voted unanimously to have their research staff look into these areas further for up to 90 days.
It was disappointing to not get the CUP outright, but I feel the council's concerns were legitimate. We had come up with solutions, but they currently are in the form of unimplemented plans and verbal agreements. Hopefully we can get things more formalized to adequately mitigate the council's concerns. GrX has so many paths for serving, and it's been encouraging to see so many people coming together for this common goal. I know that God has some great plans for this church.
Recently we entered into an agreement to lease and hopefully eventually purchase a building in a light industrial zone in Santa Clara. However, due to the zoning, we cannot assemble there unless we have a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from the city. Last night we went before the Santa Clara City Planning Commission to try to make our case for getting the CUP.
I was encouraged to see somewhere around 200 (about a third of the total membership) from GrX at the hearing. We totally packed out the council chambers, which had a max occupancy of 150, and members of the fire department actually came and made some of us go out into the lobby. We definitely made an impression on the council with our presence.
Dalan Chan, our Operations Director, spoke on behalf of the church and made a case that we are a good use for the land in several different aspects. A short video was shown, 200 signed petitions and letters from businesses in favor of our CUP were referenced, and a long line of audience members spoke on behalf of the church. We had 13 people scheduled to speak, but I think the actual number who went up was three times that! There was a small handful of people, mostly from neighboring businesses, who spoke in opposition to our use of the building. The portion of the session regarding us lasted no less than three hours! It would've gone on even longer had the council not cut our line of speakers short.
The two things the council took issue with were our shortage of parking (we'd have too small of a parking lot if our projected growth held in a few year's time), and that "sensitive receptors," children and elderly, might be exposed to the kinds of chemicals that neighboring companies (now or any time in the future) would be permitted to use under the light industrial zoning laws. The council didn't make a decision on our CUP; instead, they voted unanimously to have their research staff look into these areas further for up to 90 days.
It was disappointing to not get the CUP outright, but I feel the council's concerns were legitimate. We had come up with solutions, but they currently are in the form of unimplemented plans and verbal agreements. Hopefully we can get things more formalized to adequately mitigate the council's concerns. GrX has so many paths for serving, and it's been encouraging to see so many people coming together for this common goal. I know that God has some great plans for this church.