St Michael Catholic Church expansion - Fact or Fiction - An opinion

Submitted by John Campbell Elwell

After several months of reading letter after letter, article after article, and listening to opinion after opinion about everything from valet parking to cutting down a tree on private property, I wonder if it is time for the facts to be stated about the upcoming St. Michael Catholic Church construction project?

Fact: The purpose of the upcoming construction is twofold; firstly to repair the Bell Tower which is over 4” out of plumb and causing stress cracks in the Church, and secondly to expand the Church to allow all parishioners a seat during services. The Church is not gaining more people, it is simply attempting to provide seats for parishioners who are already attending Mass.

Fact: The expansion and repair to the church is scheduled to begin on May 12th, 2014. The repair to the Bell Tower and the expansion will take approximately one year.

Fact: During the year long construction phase, Mass will be conducted in the new Parish Hall on both Saturday afternoon and Sunday mornings. Because the Hall can accommodate more people than the current Church, there will be more people attending fewer Masses. This will definitely mean more vehicles parking on the City streets closer to the new Hall.

Fact: There are no restrictions for parking on City streets except where noted by official signs.

Fact: A 2006 City Code regulates residential and non residential parking space requirements based on type of activity. All Churches are governed under the same subsection of this code while other types of businesses (retail, restaurants, hotels, etc) have slightly different requirements. All Assembly Places have the same parking space rules; 1 parking space per 4 seats. Up to 50% of the spaces can be offsite but within 600’ of the front door.

Fact: Based on their understanding of this City Code, the Church entered into two lease agreements to provide the extra parking space requirements. One was with the Nassau County Court House and the other was with a private business. These spaces were required because of the Church expansion.

Fact: Unfortunately both properties in question do not fall within 600’ of the Church Campus which is specified in the City Code. This has resulted in the valet parking alternative (32 additional on site spaces) in order to meet the required number of parking spaces due to the expansion. The other 13 spaces will be picked up with increased street parking and 3 new handicapped spots.

Facts have an interesting way of getting in the way of a good story. In this case, nothing could be more clear and factual. St. Michael Church is not trying to gain more people by expanding the Church. It is simply attempting to provide additional seats for those already attending the current services. That’s a fact.

Editor's Note: John Campbell is the Managing Partner of the Elwell Advisory Group, a marketing & financial consulting company. Previously he was a sales/ marketing executive in the lumber business including six years as National Sales Director for the Rayonier Lumber Division. He currently serves on the Board of the Boys & Girls Club and is an active parishioner at St. Michael Church. John and his family have made Amelia Island their home for fifteen years.

April 22, 2014 7:50 a.m.