WATERVILLE — The City Council is scheduled Tuesday to consider referring to the Planning Board a contentious request to rezone property on Park Street so the First Church of Waterville can demolish buildings to expand parking.

Residents of Park Place, which is perpendicular to Park Street and runs along the church parking lot, have expressed concerns about the proposal to raze the apartment buildings. They and others say the proposal does not make sense when the city needs housing.

The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the City Hall Annex at 46 Front St., beginning with an executive session to discuss a proposal to acquire property. City Council Chairwoman Rebecca Green, D-Ward 4, said Monday she was not sure a vote will be taken following that session.

The church applied to the city’s code enforcement office for a permit to demolish buildings at 3 and 5 Park St., which most recently had been used for apartments, to enlarge its parking area.

Dan Bradstreet, director of code enforcement, said Monday the request is pending a zoning modification for the proposed use for the property. The church is asking the city to rezone the lots from Contract Zoned District/Commercial-A to Residential-D.

The properties were rezoned in March 2020 from Residential-D to Contract Zoned District Commercial-A. The amended zoning says 5 Park St. can be used only as a beauty salon and spa, professional office or residences; 3 Park St. shall continue to be used as two residential apartments; and 7 Park St. shall continue to be used only as a parking lot.

The zoning was changed to allow a hairdressing and spa business to move to 3 and 5 Park St., and the conditions of the contract were intended to preserve the residential character of the abutting neighborhood. The business, however, never moved there.

Some neighbors at the time expressed concern about increased traffic on Park Place and asked that entry to the parking lot be from Park Street, not Park Place.

The City Council typically refers zoning requests to the Planning Board, which holds a hearing and makes a recommendation back to the council. The Planning Board can only recommend, and the council has final authority on whether to rezone.

The church’s senior minister, Stephen Meidahl, said recently that when he started at the church three years ago, there were eight people in the congregation. Now, it is about 200 on Sundays and more parking space is needed.

The buildings include a duplex at 3 Park St. that is within 10 feet of the back wall of the church, Meidahl said, and a former funeral home at 5 Park St. that existed as a commercial space for decades.

He said that with one exception, furnaces, fixtures, toilets, sinks and showers were removed from the former apartment buildings before the church bought them.

In other matters Tuesday, the council is scheduled to consider approving recommendations from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act Advisory Committee on disbursing $50,000 to outside agencies.

The recommendations call for the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program/Educare, the Maine Children’s Home and the Waterville Area Soup Kitchen to receive $10,000 each; the Greater Waterville Area Food Bank, Starfish Village and the Waterville Historical Society to get $5,000 each; and the South End Neighborhood Association and the Winslow Community Cupboard to receive $2,500 each.

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