tfield Bass testified for SJU, both highlighting the disadvantages of the current situation. Bass told his "crying bride" story, about the bride he discovered weeping when she was told that, due to a scheduling conflict, her wedding would be moved from Room 1 to Room 4 (or this awful room, as she described it). The Planning Board Chair asked about parking & was assured there would be enough. The chair was also concerned about maintaining the interfaith concept, and she was assured that interfaith activity would continue. Another member (Mr Alexander) expressed concern about parking & related traffic patterns.
2. Pete Stone (our Site Development Engineer with Patton, Harris & Rust) pointed out that additional cross-parking agreements with external entities (Wilde Lake High School and the Village Center) would be necessary in the event of future growth.
3. The Chair of the Wilde Lake Village Board testified (he said as an individual) about his concern re adequacy of parking in the future. He indicated that he was not opposed to our building plans per se.
4. The General Growth Properties representative testified briefly and was supportive of the overall plan (SJU & SJRC), particularly since it involves expansion on the existing IFC land and not use of multiple parcels.
5. Mr Alexander recommended that the Planning Staff look at the coverage percentage issue for religious facilities in general for Columbia, since other IFC's may also need/want to raise their coverage percentages.
6. Mr Alexander moved approval of the staff recommendation to approve FDP-76-A-III (our submission) and Mr Grabowski seconded. After discussion with the staff, with staff support for 25% coverage as allowing us to plan for the future, the Board unanimously approved our FDP request at ≈8:45 pm.
SJU BUILDING PLANS TO BE HEARD BY THE HOWARD COUNTY PLANING BOARD JUNE 21, 2007!
SJU submitted our plans for our new church building on May 22 to Howard County. The SJU Final Site Development Plan will be heard by the Howard County Planning and Zoning Board June 21st . The plan, asks for zoning approval of future plans of both SJU and SJRC for the WLIFC campus. See the proposed campus paper that was to be heard by the Board.
VOICES IN BUILDING A NEW SJU: Five areas of the new building were presented to the congregation by groups of members who have studied the needs in: worship space, education/nursery, welcome area, fellowship and bathrooms, and offices/storage areas on Sunday June 10, 2007.
NEW SJU BUILDING SHOW AND TELL! SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2007 FROM 10:00 AM TO 2:00PM. Display and presentations/discussions in room 10-11 on the new look for the Wilde Lake Interfaith Campus with SJU’s newly planned church building. Pastor Whitty Bass and Father Richard Tillman and representatives from both congregations and the architect will be available for discussions
February 2007 SJU Newsletter- The year 2006 was the turning point as SJU acted decisively in the process of building a new facility within the Interfaith Center complex at Twin Rivers and Trumpeter Roads. Aspect one covers the work in planning, negotiating with related groups, and engaging an architect to draft building plans. The second aspect of this report reviews the Capital Campaign in which the congregation committed itself financially to this building process.
The SJU Building Committee accomplished three major tasks during 2006:
♣Finished the conceptual design and site layout for the new SJU building
♣Finalized plans in conjunction with the St. John Roman Catholic congregation and jointly submitted a Site Development Plan (SDP) to the Howard County Planning and Zoning
♣Continued to interface with key organizations on our plans
This committee, led by Ken Rebeck, included Whitty Bass, Ruth Anne Becker, Cradelia Birdsong, Ralph Blevins, Tenney Brown, Rob Conley, David Douds, George P. Miller, Rich Parker, Alvin Thompson, and Ann Wicke.
Contracts were signed early in 2006 with Arium Architects and Patton Harris Rust & Associates, PC (our Engineering company). Meetings were held with the SJU congregation to obtain input and ideas on the building design. Preliminary reviews of the design were conducted with the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning and with General Growth Properties (GGP). We received favorable responses in both of these meetings, but also found some key items that needed to be resolved.
The main items concerned an existing site restriction on land coverage for future buildings and/or building expansions, building setback requirements, and parking concerns. To properly address these, it became necessary for the SJRC congregation to do some conceptual planning for their future expansion needs (which was not something we were previously expecting). This accomplished, a formal application for a Final Site Development Plan (FDP) was submitted to the County in November, and we are currently awaiting their feedback.
During this process, we discovered some excellent reasons to move the building a bit further from the corner of the lot and to rotate it slightly to better align with the existing building and present a more engaging entrance from the parking lot. The architect also developed vertical design concepts for the building that are now being finalized. The new building will be attractive, very visible and inviting, making a strong statement that it is a church.
Organizations that have been kept apprised of SJU’s new building plans include the denominational representatives from the Presbytery and United Methodists, The Columbia Association, the Archdiocese of Baltimore Division of Facilities Management, KIMCO Realty (who is responsible for development at the Wilde Lake Village Shopping Center) and the Wilde Lake Village Community Association.
As part of this process we updated our SJU incorporation documents (from July 8, 1975) with the State of Maryland and will use the name “St. John United Church, Inc.” The legal agreement between SJU and SJRC was also finalized.
The second phase was the Capital Campaign. The Capital Campaign Executive Committee, with guidance from fundraising and management consultants Douglas Himes Associates, LLC, developed and conducted a capital and endowment campaign. Efforts began in 2005 with development of a proposed campaign framework, a congregational survey, and focus group discussions to assess the feasibility of conducting such a campaign. The results of these efforts culminated in SJU Council approval of the consultants’ recommendations to proceed with a capital/endowment fundraising campaign in 2006.
The Campaign Executive Committee members are: Lon Chesnutt (Campaign Chairperson), Debbie Parker (Campaign Committee Chairperson), Tenney Brown (Treasurer), Whitty Bass, Sandy Collins, Dave Douds, Mike Hayman, Evelyn Mogren, Guy Moody, and Alvin Thompson.
Continuing under the guidance of the consultants, Dr. Douglas Himes and Rev. Dr. Errol Smith, the Capital Campaign Executive Committee developed and carried out the capital campaign, which included:
oAn advance leadership campaign which resulted in $ 450,000 in advance pledges
oDevelopment and publication of a brochure which provides the information about the campaign as well as a brief history of SJU
oA Campaign Kick-off Service on Sunday, March 19 which launched the official campaign
oTeams of volunteers’ visits to SJU members to share information about “Building a New SJU” and secure pledges.
oA Campaign Celebration Service on Sunday, May 21 to give thanks for all the pledges received and to celebrate our commitment to “Building a New SJU”.
At the celebration, it was announced that $782,868 had been pledged over three years to the capital fund and an additional $253,000 pledged in endowments. As of year-end 2006, total pledges amounted to $807,125 for the capital campaign, of which more than $240,000 has been received.
Symbolizing all these efforts is a new banner entitled “Building a New SJU”, which was created and presented by Judy Miller and Judy Brown, a visual reminder that Covenant and Christ will continue to be our foundation as we build a new SJU.
The congregation will soon hear about opportunities for all the membership to help in the planning for the new building.
Submitted by: Ken Rebeck, Building Steering Committee ChairpersonDebbie Parker, Capital Campaign Executive Committee Chairperson
Lon Chesnutt, Capital Campaign Chairperson
DECEMBER 2006 SJU NEWSLETTER Ken Rebeck
On October 16th SJU and SJRC jointly submitted a request to General Growth Properties (GGP) for revisions to the Final Development Plan (FDP) for the Wilde Lake Interfaith Religious Center. The FDP is a critical step in the master planning process for expansion of the interfaith center campus, with the immediate goal of adding a new church building for SJU near the corner of Twin Rivers Rd and Trumpeter Rd. GGP has agreed to support the congregations by assisting in the formal submission and defense of the FDP to Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning during the week of November 20.
The design of SJU’s new building has gone through several changes over the past few months while considering building elevation design concepts and orientation of the building on the site. The Building Steering Committee recently reviewed several physical mockups (constructed of cardboard) for the building vertical design. The current plot plan concept is illustrated in the sketches below. The entire interior as previously reviewed with the congregation has been retained, but the physical arrangement has been modified somewhat. The resulting building will house an impressive worship space and narthex, classrooms, a fellowship hall, and offices.
The worship space will be the prominent architectural feature, with angled front walls and a high peaked roof. The new building will be immediately recognizable as a religious facility. The building vestibule entrance will be clearly visible and inviting from the parking lot, and the design will blend architecturally with the existing building and consistent with future interfaith center expansion plans.
The FDP submission requests that the property building coverage restriction be increased from the current 10% to 25% to accommodate the new SJU building and the future expansion needs of SJRC. Parking requirements and internal lot line setbacks are also addressed to support the expansion design and accommodate property subdivision needs.
With the FDP behind us, the SJU Building Steering Committee will now concentrate on the final elevation layout of the building and the internal design details. The committee will be reviewing concepts with the congregation over the coming months
October 29th 2006 SJU Congregation members were shown the proposed plans for their new church building to be built on the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center campus by Steve Mc Laughlin of Arium Architects.
September 1st 2006 –SJU News Letter-
NEXT ON THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN . . .PAYING THE PLEDGES
As the solicitation phase of the Capital Campaign has been successfully completed with over $800,000 (+$200,000 for the Endowment Fund) pledged toward t
COUNTY APPROVES SITE DEVELOPMENT The Howard County Planning Board approved St. John United’s Site Development Plan on May 22 with a 3 - 0 vote that opened the way for SJU to take another step in its countdown to a new building. The approval dealt with all the work necessary to prepare the ground for a new building, i.e. water and sewer connections, grading of the land, water runoff. SJU’s site engineering company, Patton, Harris, and Rust, had prepared the proper drawings to meet the needed specifications, and the Planning Board had only a few questions and comments before voting unanimous approval.
In the public hearing, three persons spoke against the proposal and tried to raise objections to the cross on the external building, but the Board Chair said that issue was not in their purview of responsibility. Father Dick Tillman and pastor Whitty Bass had both given brief statements emphasizing a continuing inter faith cooperation and request for approval.
The next task before the Building Committee and the SJU Council is the choosing of a Construction Manager. That person would assist the Church as liaison in the final phase of planning and would also be SJU’s onsite representative when the construction phase actually begins.
The next hurdle is the meeting in the process to build a new SJU church building will with the Howard County Planning Board on May 22nd. This session will be seeking approval of the plans for preparation of the site for construction of the building, which means all the preparation for the underground work of securing water, sewage, storm water, and electrical arrangements in proper form. Members are encouraged to attend this hearing in the Ellicott Room of the George Howard Building at 3430 Court House Drive in Ellicott City at 7:00 PM on the 22nd. Building Committee Administrator David Douds said he thinks all the necessary papers and drawings for County approval have already been or are about to be submitted. But, in the long road to gaining permission to build, a glitch can occur at almost any point, and we (SJU) must be ready to respond.
Meanwhile, other preparation continues so that SJU will be ready to move ahead when the final building plans are approved by the County Department of Planning and Zoning. The Arium Inc. architectural firm has been authorized to complete the specification drawings for the new building, which means the actual drawings of where walls are to be placed, interior connections are to be made, and roofing is to be secured. All the committees who made initial plans for the interiors of the building are completing their work so that SJU will have the look and feeling desired in the advanced planning.
The Building Committee has drawn up a short list of firms that could act as the ‘Construction Manager’ for the rest of the building process. Upon selection of a firm, probably some time in May, the on-site representative of that firm will assist SJU in the final phase of securing necessary Howard County building permits, seeking bids for a general contractor to construct the building, helping the Building Committee to evaluate the bids and choose a contractor, and then be the on-site coordinator and liaison as the builder proceeds to do the work.
All of this must be underwritten by SJU’s financial means to complete the planning phase, receive the pledges from the Capital Campaign, secure a mortgage to insure payment for the construction, and include a debt-payment plan for the congregation. The Building Committee is currently engaged in developing a plan that will meet these needs. That plan is to be shared first with the SJU Council and then, in the near future, with the congregation.
SJU began this process of seeking a new congregational home as an act of faith and a trust that we were adequate to the task. As we continue on that journey, SJU needs the enthusiastic support of every member.
The “Cross” issue and the community - since the RAM report from the Wilde Lake Architectural committee was overturned by the Wilde Lake Village Board April 7 and approved the decision to let SJU build its church building as planned with the Christian Cross that will face Twin Rivers and Trumpeter Roads. There have been several stories in the local media: The Baltimore Examiner story (04.14.08) “Concerns raised as cross approved for Columbia Interfaith Center.”
The Columbia Flier story (04.17.08) “Critics say cross at interfaith center exclusionary” See: Columbia Flier story; The Flier also ran an editorial, “Balancing faith, tolerance is Columbia’s cross to bear” by Doug Miller, (05.07.08). He began the with the question, “….people who don’t live in Columbia …even though those who live elsewhere…when they hear of a controversy over a church that wants to put a cross (on its new building). After all that’s what Christians do just about anywhere ….But in Columbia it’s a little more complicated than that… …exterior religious symbols have been more or less taboo at Columbia’s interfaith centers…He concluded, “Envisioning Columbia’s big picture without a healthy dialogue about what’s wrong and right with the interfaith centers individually and as a concept would be a leap of faith we should not take.” That editorial generated several letters of comment both pro and con from the Columbia community. The Washington Post story (05.13.08) followed with the story, “Plan for Cross Shakes Columbia to Its Core Values” The following day (05.14.07) almost every local TV station news crew came and interviewed SJU members at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center and some radio stations in the Baltimore Washington area carried the cross issue that was generated by the Associated Press.
The Wilde Lake Village Board approved the plans for St. John United’s proposal to build a new church building at Twin Rivers and Trumpter roads at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center on Monday April 7. The Board rejected the earlier RAM decision that the cross and denominational symbols be removed and by a 3-2 vote restored these items to the plan.
The SJU Building Committee will be appealing the decision on external symbols in the RAM report to the Wilde Lake Village Board (sitting as the Architectural Committee). The SJU Appeal Meeting with the Wilde Lake Village Board will be Monday, April 7, 2008 at 7:00 pm at Slayton House
The RAM report is in. Kristin Shulder, Wilde Lake Covenant Advisor writing March 17th to break a tie vote of the RAM over SJU’s proposal to build our church building:
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