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

WATERVILLE — The Planning Board is scheduled Tuesday night to consider voting to make a recommendation to the City Council about whether to rezone 3, 5 and 7 Park St. to allow the First Church of Waterville to raze buildings and expand its parking lot.

The request prompted debate last year, with residents of nearby Park Place arguing that tearing down former apartment buildings and drawing more vehicles to the area would disrupt the historic and residential nature of the neighborhood.

The City Council voted Dec. 5, 2023, to delay voting on the rezoning request until neighbors and church officials could meet to discuss the issue.

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.

The church 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 several months ago the request was pending a zoning modification for the proposed use of the property. The church is asking the city to rezone the lots from Contract Zoned District/Commercial-A to Residential-D.

The city’s zoning ordinance prohibits parking lots in the current zone. The properties were rezoned in March 2020 from Residential-D to Contract Zoned District Commercial-A, which stipulates 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 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.

The City 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.

City Planner Ann Beverage said Monday the Planning Board could decide to recommend the City Council rezone to Residential-D, which would allow parking. Planning Board members could also recommend the council not rezone the property, or they could recommend to rezone it to a different contract zone, with certain conditions attached.

While religious institutions have tax-exempt status, the buildings the church seeks to demolish are not being used for church purposes, so the buildings are taxable, according to city officials.

In a separate but apparently related issue, Stephen Meidahl, senior minister at the First Church of Waterville, wrote an email last Friday to City Manager Bryan Kaenrath saying the church has received a tax bill for “buildings the City Council refuses to allow us to remove.” Meidahl said he has contacted the Waterville Assessor’s Office and been told the buildings are subject to taxation because they are not being used.

“So the city mandates we keep buildings, then taxes us for buildings we don’t need,” Meidahl wrote in his email.

Meidahl also wrote: “Needless to say, all churches/synagogues in the state of Maine are interested to learn that a church/synagogue is subject to taxation because the assessors office independently determines that the church property is not ‘appropriately used.’ Possibly the assessors office could provide written guidance to churches and synagogues as to the appropriate use of their property to government standards. Maybe the assessors office will then demand an inspection of every property owned by every Catholic and Protestant church and every synagogue to further determine if the property meets the local assessor’s standards.”

Meidahl said the church has referred the matter to its lawyers at Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson in Portland, stating Waterville threatens the tax-exempt status of church and synagogue properties, opening the door for other cities to engage in similar action.

Contacted on Monday afternoon, City Solicitor William A. Lee III said he had just learned of the church’s complaint to the city about the tax issue and he was not prepared to offer an opinion.

“I will look into it,” he said.

Asked if he thinks Waterville is protected if the City Council decides not to rezone the property, as requested by the church, and the church continues to pursue the matter, Lee said he would have to review the church’s legal arguments after such a decision were made.

“It’s a legislative decision whether or not to rezone or change the zoning of a property,” Lee said, “and I would have to see what the claim being made is — that the city’s done something improper — before I venture a decision on that.

“Right now, we have a request to rezone. We don’t have any decision. I haven’t heard the complaints, in particular, so it’s a wait and see for me.”

The Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the City Hall Annex at 46 Front St.