The apartment building at 3 Park St. and another building are slated for demolition under a plan proposed by officials from the First Church of Waterville. The church officials are looking to expand the church’s parking lot and add a ramp for those entering and exiting the building. The Waterville City Council voted Tuesday night to send the matter back to the Planning Board to consider a neighbor’s request to add more landscaping. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — It ain’t over ’til it’s over.

The First Church of Waterville will have to wait a bit longer to see if it can demolish two buildings off Park Street to expand its parking lot and build an entrance ramp for those with mobility issues.

The City Council was to have taken a final vote Tuesday night on whether to amend the zoning map for church property at 3, 5 and 7 Park St., with certain conditions, including that the only permitted uses on the site include a parking lot, a ramp accessible to those with handicaps, professional offices and housing. Councilors took the first vote Feb. 4 of two votes needed to amend the zoning map.

Instead, councilors voted Tuesday night to again send the matter back to the Planning Board, asking that more landscaping be added to the plan.

Church officials maintain the congregation has grown, requiring more parking space. They want to build a 40-by-12-foot addition to the back of the church to house a ramp for entering and exiting the building.

The debate has stretched on for more than a year, with the City Council asking the Planning Board for recommendations on the issue, the board sending recommendations to the council and the council sending the matter back to the board. The council has sole authority to make zoning changes.

It appeared a compromise had been reached a few weeks ago and the council would finalize the issue Tuesday, but Park Place resident Nancy Williams had a final request that the church develop small landscaped areas at the corner of Park Street and Park Place, and at the corner of the church parking lot, where it abuts a neighbor on Park Place. Doing so would likely mean the church would lose two parking spaces.

The City Council would have needed a two-thirds majority vote to amend the zoning map. Councilor Rien Finch, D-Ward 6, was absent Tuesday, and the Ward 5 seat is vacant.

Council Chair Rebecca Green, D-Ward 4, said she appreciated Williams’ comments, but was not sure the council had the ability to add the landscaping to the conditions of approval.

“It seems a little late in the game now,” Green said. “This is the second reading.”

Williams said she believed the landscaping was in the plan initially, but was removed. She said two apartment buildings — with a total of five apartments — would be lost if razed, and she did not think it would be a great loss to the church to lose two parking spaces to make way for landscaping, which would go a long way toward showing support for the neighborhood.

City Planner Ann Beverage said councilors could send the matter back to the Planning Board. Green said that while she would like to see more green space, she opposed sending it back.

“At some point, we have to move on,” she said.

Councilor Thomas Klepach, D-Ward 3, said it seemed reasonable to add the landscaping and asked the church’s senior pastor, Stephen Meidahl, if he would be amenable to the change.

Meidahl said the church and city engineer came to an agreement about the parking lot, and the Planning Board agreed to send the recommendation to the City Council.

“I think we should just proceed as planned,” Meidahl said.

The apartment building at 3 Park St., left, behind the First Church of Waterville, would be razed under a proposal from church officials. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

Councilor Flavia DeBrito, D-Ward 2, said she thought it should be sent back to the Planning Board because neighbors said they were not satisfied.

Beverage said the board had asked church representatives and the city engineer to step into the hallway at the board’s last meeting to discuss parking. While they came back with a plan concept, they did not come back with an actual plan.

Councilors voted 3-2 to approve an amended zoning map, with DeBrito and Councilor Cathy Herard, D-Ward 7, dissenting.

City Clerk Patti Dubois said that approving a zoning change requires a two-thirds vote and the vote was three-fifths, so the motion failed.

Dubois said the City Council could vote to reconsider the vote taken Feb. 4, and then consider voting to send the matter back to the Planning Board.

The council voted 4-1 to reconsider, with Green the lone dissenter.

Councilors then voted 3-2 to send the matter back to the Planning Board, asking that the board add the landscaping issue. Green and Klepach opposed the motion.

Gilley said before the vote that he understood the issue has been debated a long time.

“But hopefully we can get this taken care of,” he said, “and we can have some type of compromise or agreement and call this a day.”.

The two buildings in the foreground are at the center an ongoing effort to have the lots at 3, 5 and 7 Park St. rezoned so that First Church of Waterville, in background, can raze the buildings to make space for more parking. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

“I agree,” DeBrito added.

The conditions of the contract zone are intended to preserve the residential character of the abutting neighborhood, but area residents maintain that tearing down the former apartment buildings on the property and drawing more traffic would disrupt the nature of the neighborhood and eliminate much-needed housing.

The city engineer and church officials have agreed that the parking lot would have only one entrance and one exit; traffic aisles would be narrowed to 22 feet from 24 feet; parking spaces facing Park Place would be set back 4 feet; and spaces would be changed to angular parking where possible, except on Park Place, which is perpendicular to Park Street.