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Suncoast Pinellas News

Safety Harbor OKs Church Addition

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: November 24, 2007

SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - After the City Commission heard objections from neighboring property owners, it approved a 6,560-square-foot addition to Cypress Meadows Community Church.

Commissioners unanimously approved the expansion plan. They attached conditions requiring buffering to reduce noise spill-over from the church grounds to surrounding residential areas.

The Rev. Douglas Poole, who has been pastor of the 34-year-old church at 2180 McMullen Booth Road for 26 years, noted the congregation called this site home long before neighbors moved into adjacent subdivisions.

He recalled a time when there were horse stables to the north, a dog kennel to the south and McMullen Booth Road had only two lanes.

The congregation, Poole said, has grown steadily over the years and they need the expansion to accommodate Sunday school classes and the church's educational programs. A breezeway connecting the education building with the sanctuary is included in the plans.

Residents of the surrounding area, who spoke at the City Commission meeting at which the church's request was considered, vehemently objected to the church expanding its Sunday school. They were especially opposed to five oak trees on the site having to be removed.

The residents especially wanted church leaders to change their construction plans, relocating the building on the site and preserving the trees.

Ed Hoffman Jr., a Tarpon Springs-based architect, said the location to which the residents object was the only viable spot for the building on the site. The door to the sanctuary would be blocked if the shift residents suggested were made, he noted.

Church officials have agreed to move the children's playground away from residences to a courtyard buffered by the new structure to reduce noise, he noted.

A resident of Cypress Trace North, Robert M. Shepherd, wrote the commission stating: "What is now a serene view of wetlands and wooded area would be replaced with the worst case, an industrial-looking building and parking lot full of cars."

Ron Rinzivillo, a city associate planner, noted 76 replacement trees – live oaks, cherry laurel, cypress and crape myrtle – will be planted.

Mayor Andy Steingold said it appears church leaders have gone out of their way to preserve the trees it could, but it has to expand to meet its congregants' needs.

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