Church seeks more space

The prospective tenant of the former Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house at 227 E. Rosemary St. will bring a starkly different attitude to the site of the “cat house.”

Representatives from the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church presented the Chapel Hill Town Council on Monday with a request for a special-use permit — a warrant that enables developments to move forward — to allow them to begin planning a new church at the site of the former sorority.

The church, now located at 300 E. Rosemary St., acquired the 6,108-square-foot house — formerly called the cat house — in fall 2001.

“The congregation, along with Pastor (Mark) Coulter, indicated we need more flexible space for worship,” said Pastor David Hood.

The sorority house was originally built in the 1960s for Theta Chi, said Phil Mason, town of Chapel Hill senior planner.

Jay Anhorn, director of Greek affairs for the University, said the ownership eventually changed, and Kappa Alpha Theta members lived in the building until 1991 when the chapter closed.

At the site, church officials want to build an 11,540-square-foot structure with a 375-seat sanctuary and additional classrooms.

Hood said the proposed structure would serve mainly the Sunday needs of the congregation. The current church would house most of the church work during the remainder of the week, he said.

Mason said the church requested the special-use permit because the proposed 89-foot steeple violates town height regulations by seven feet.

“They aren’t asking for anything out of the ordinary,” said Mayor Pro Tem Edith Wiggins. “We issue special-use permits all of the time.”

Mason also requested modifications in the setback and landscape buffer regulations because of the site’s proximity to Cottage Lane.

“We’ve been meeting the historic district commission and with the neighbors well back to 2003,” said Dan Jewell, president of Coulter, Jewell and Thames, a Durham-based planning firm.

The proposed new church is closer to the street than is normally permitted and would need an exemption for construction, Jewell said.

He added that the church has incorporated the input of both the neighbors and other affected parties to ensure their concerns were met before plans were drawn up.

“They have been very helpful,” Hood said. “We’re trying to disrupt their lives as little as possible.”

But several residents adjacent to the house voiced concern with the project to the council.

Several residents expressed opposition to a portion of the proposal that would widen Cottage Lane, an action they said would ruin the aesthetics of the area.

“We want the most moderate proposal,” said Jennifer Gierisch, a 14-year resident of Cottage Lane. “I don’t see any utility in widening Cottage Lane.”

The council will discuss the permit approval in more detail at its May 9 meeting.

“If we get approval … then our next step will be to go ahead and get architectural drawings done,” Hood said.

He said the church hopes to open the new building Christmas 2006, though he said he thinks Easter 2007 is a more realistic goal.

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.