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BER 5 • CASE STUDY NUM Church Ex ansion Background: A:church in`your community wants to expand. It has been in this-location for 100 years< and<was -initiallybuilt with no setback from either frontage on the corner lot that it sits on: The. community is growing, and with-that growth has come. a strong growth in the size of the congregation. The church wants to expand to add more worship space, classrooms and a nursery to support its strong youth and adult education programs. Since the church was built, the City adopted a zoning ordinance. The Subject Property is zoned R-1 Single Family Residential and the Comprehensive Plan supports the continuation of that use pattern. Churches are allowed by conditional use permit (CUP) in the R-1 District. Although a CUP was never granted for this church, the use is not really an issue. The issues focus on whether or not the addition can also be built with no setback, or if it has to be set back 20 feet, as • called for in the ordinance. The church has applied for a conditional use permit and a setback variance. There is a letter in your packet from a neighbor across the street (a row of standard sized, platted lots) and a petition signed by all but one of the neighbors which opposes the setback variance. In addition to this position, the letter goes on to state that both you (a member of the planning commission) and a member of the City Council serve on the church board and should not vote due to a conflict of interest. The Applicants presentation is made by the architects, who cite numerous "practical difficulties" that would be caused by having to conform to the new setback. The minister testifies to the positive benefits of this expansion for the congregation, the church's mission and the broader community. The facts as you understand them are that the church is a legal non-conforming use. The ordinance states that it may be maintained, however, it cannot make any improvements that would "further the non-conformance". Since the existing structure is already built with no setback, is the continuation of this building line a furtherance of the non-conformance? Is there a hardship to justify the variance? • Should you vote on this application, and if not, what action should you take? HYPOTHETICAL CASE STUDIES PAGE I2