Planners say yes to church
BY TOYNETT HALL
Staff Writer

HOWELL - The Planning Board has approved an application from the Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church to build a 500-seat church with a fellowship hall, offices and classroom space on a 15-acre parcel at the southwest intersection of Church and Kent roads.

The board voted 8-0 at its March 1 meeting to approve the application. Mayor Joseph DiBella, who sits on the board, was absent from the meeting.

Samy Bassily, who is a member of the church's Board of Trustees, said, "This church has been in operation for approximately 17 years. We have been worshipping in the area for a while and basically we're trying to have our own spot in the community, and be recognized as a church. Our congregation is approximately 90 to 100 families from Howell, Jackson and Freehold."

He said services are concentrated on Sunday, with Mass being about four hours. Between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. people will be coming and going from the church on a staggered basis.

Some residents expressed concern that the construction of a church would exacerbate existing traffic issues.

Peter Vogel said he wanted township officials to perform a traffic study in that area. He also asked the Planning Board to consider pedestrians and to place sidewalks along the existing roads.

Danny Seymour suggested installing speed bumps as a traffic calming measure.

"Church Road is like a drag strip. They're going to cut through that. That is going to be their shortcut to Kent Road," Seymour said.

Michael Marchese shared the same sentiment about the existing and potential traffic problems. However, that is not the only concern he had. He said that in addition to the fellowship hall, classroom space and a parking lot for 260 vehicles, the church had applied to build a soccer field.

Marchese, who said his home is in close proximity to where the church would be built, told the board, "I would hate to see a large amount of people playing multiple sport activities there every week."

Bassily addressed that concern and clarified how the church would use the land. According to Bassily, "It is not a soccer field. It is a recreation grass area. It would be an area for kids to play and perhaps a place to hold a picnic."

The board approved the application for the church and granted the applicant a waiver to use signs in an ARE-2 zone, placed in the drive way entrance for identification.