Two buildings on Park Street that a local church hopes to raze to make way for more parking can be seen seen from Park Place. First Church of Waterville’s steeple can be seen in the distance. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel file

WATERVILLE — The city will again consider a controversial request by First Church of Waterville to rezone three parcels on Park Street so it can raze buildings, expand parking and create auxiliary parish house facilities.

The City Council on Tuesday night voted 6-0 to refer the request to the Planning Board for public hearing and recommendation. The council 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.

Councilor Rien Finch, D-Ward 6, noted Tuesday that the city’s zoning ordinance requires the council to refer the matter to the board.

“We literally have no choice but to pass this on to the Planning Board,” Finch said.

The City Council on Dec. 5, 2023, voted to delay referring the request to planners until church officials and neighbors on nearby Park Place could discuss what each side wanted and reach a compromise.

The issue arose again July 3 with a letter to City Planner Ann Beverage from James Monteleone of the law firm, Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A. of Portland, which represents the church. The letter says the church is petitioning the city to return the parcels to the original zoning within the surrounding General Residential-D district.

Such rezoning would better conform the properties to the standards of neighboring properties and would help support church activities, the letter says. The present contract zone was tailored toward commercial uses such as beauty salons, spas or commercial offices — which is incongruent with the neighborhood, according to Monteleone, who attended Tuesday’s meeting but was asked no questions.

The church anticipates using the parcels for auxiliary parish house facilities, which are permitted uses within Waterville’s most restrictive residential districts but are prohibited by the existing rules, according to Monteleone, whose letter says the church also intends to add off-street and fully accessible parking.

The church is not subject to the city’s off-street parking requirements established for new churches, nor to certain aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act, his letter says.

“But First Church nonetheless seeks to voluntarily pursue compliance with these laws to the fullest extent possible through the parcels’ uses. It cannot do so within the restrictive contract zone that exists,” the letter states.

The buildings include a duplex at 3 Park St. that is within 10 feet of the back wall of the church and a former funeral home at 5 Park St. that had three apartments. All are now vacant.

Stephen Meidahl, senior church pastor, said last year that since he started at the church three years prior, the congregation grew from eight parishioners to about 200 on a typical Sunday. While the church has a front entrance that is accessible to those who have physical disabilities, officials want to build a ramp at the rear for those who are physically challenged so they do not have to traverse long distances to get inside, Meidahl said. More parking is also needed, he said.

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.

Residents of Park Place, which is perpendicular to Park Street and runs along the church parking lot, objected to the church’s plans. Some city councilors said they opposed tearing down buildings when the city is in a housing crisis.

The church last year applied to the city’s code enforcement office for a permit to demolish buildings at 3 and 5 Park St., but Dan Bradstreet, director of code enforcement, said his office was waiting to learn of any 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.