Zoning change needed to alter Baptist church

Plan for tall, on-site condo complex riles neighbors

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Susan Whitney-Wilkerson⁄The Gazette Congregants enter First Baptist Church of Silver Spring for the 11 a.m. worship service Sunday. Members want a new church built for them on the current site, but residents who live in the area say the proposal, which includes plans for 180 condominiums, would create a building too tall for the neighborhood.

But community members say major development that towers over other buildings in their neighborhood, just outside Silver Spring’s central business district, isn’t what they want to see.

Virginia-based Bush Construction Corporation is working with the First Baptist Church of Silver Spring to create a new church building on the corner of Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue, and incorporate about 180 condominium units — two nine-story towers — on either end of the church building, said Andrew Viola, regional vice president of Bush Construction Corporation at a Thursday night community meeting.

The church will act as a base for the two residential towers, Viola said. The front of the church, which will face Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue, will be two stories. The rear of the church, which will face toward Bonifant Street, will be one story, Viola said. The residential towers will be above that structure, on either end.

An underground garage will provide 30 parking spaces for the church and about 1.2 spaces per condominium unit, Viola said.

Zoning on this portion of Fenton Street imposes a 60-foot height limit. Buildings being proposed are 94 feet tall and the developer will have to apply for a zoning text amendment in order to build at that height, Viola said. It’s important to build a significant amount of residential development on site in order to be able to pay for the redevelopment of the church.

The developer has not yet pursued a zoning text amendment, and would have to go through Park and Planning and the County Council to do so, said Dan Parr, an aide to County Council President Thomas E. Perez (D-Dist. 5) of Takoma Park. Since an amendment would include other parcels of land in addition to the church’s property, the zone would likely be drawn as narrow as possible, he said.

Financially, the church is struggling, said the Rev. Duncan McIntosh, the church’s pastor. The building is in need of major repairs, like a new air conditioning system.

‘‘There’s a limited amount of money available,” he said.

Previously, McIntosh had estimated the cost of repairs to be $1.5 to $2 million. If the church tried to pay those costs, it would be insolvent in five to 10 years and would likely have to leave the area, or members would have to find other churches.

‘‘We can’t, as a church, continue to put money into the budget to keep refurbishing this building,” McIntosh said. ‘‘... We depend on contributions. We don’t make taxation. We don’t require people to pay a certain amount to be in the church.”

And the church, which prides itself on serving an urban population, would like to stay in the neighborhood, where it can continue its mission, McIntosh said. The church’s expanded vision has an emphasis on the arts and the new building would provide space for a Christian theater company and comedy club, as well as space for Washington Pro-Musica and a nursing academy from Sojourner-Douglass College.

Talk about it Should Bush Construction Corporation pursue a zoning text amendment to create two 94-foot towers with 180 condominium units over the First Baptist Church of Silver Spring to pay for the construction of a new church? E-mail talkaboutit@gazette.net with your responses. Please include your full name, address and daytime phone number.

The programs, McIntosh said, would complement, as well as add to, elements that are already in the community.

Additionally, the church would expand its day care center and continue to provide space for other groups that currently use the building. It also would continue its support of the Shepherd’s Table, a Silver Spring-based resource for the homeless and low-income population.

The church has been in the community for many years and for some time was the only Baptist church in the area, said Magdalene Grigg, a 58-year parishioner. And 10 years ago, church members voted to do the best they could to stay in the community that they serve.

‘‘I really feel that we should stay here on this corner if it’s any way possible,” she said. ‘‘... We want to be a light to the community.”

But residents are concerned about the mass of the building and are concerned that if the developer pursues a zoning text amendment, other builders will follow suit.

The church, which some say may have historic value, is supposed to be part of Fenton Street Village, where the zoning ordinance states that buildings should be no taller than 60 feet, said Mary Reardon, a member of the Silver Spring Historical Society. ‘‘What happens after that? Who else is going to say, ‘I want one too?’”

Residents were told that in order to redevelop downtown Silver Spring, the historic Silver Theatre would have to be demolished, she said. But that wasn’t the case.

The developer should renovate the church without demolishing the structure, building other residential structures around it if necessary, said Marcie Stickle, a Silver Spring resident and member of the Silver Spring Historical Society. Ronald Senseman, an award-winning Silver Spring architect, designed the property, completed in 1956.

‘‘I worked with Ronald Senseman,” said Dwight Sapp, a member of the church’s board of trustees. ‘‘He wasn’t a great architect when he designed this building.”

Most of it isn’t handicap-accessible, Sapp said, and it faces numerous other challenges. He said he believes no one could keep the building intact and update it to meet the ministry the church would like to provide.

‘‘It’s a concrete mausoleum, if you will,” Sapp said.