Board approves site plan for church
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Northborough - With its concerns regarding parking during peak times allayed, the Planning Board has approved the site plan for the construction of the New Apostolic Church.

On Oct. 26, Thomas DellaCroce, representing the church, submitted original plans to build, on about an acre of land at 66 East Main St., a 4,180-square-foot, one-story building with a capacity of 125 and a parking lot for 32 cars.

At their November meeting, members of the Planning Board expressed concern about overflow parking issues during big events at the church. Those concerns focused specifically on the months of April through October, when overflow parking that would normally be re-directed to the municipal lot next to Memorial Field will need to be re-directed somewhere else, as those available spaces will likely be used by patrons attending games at the field.

At the Dec. 3 Planning Board meeting, DellaCroce and Michael Sullivan, an engineer with Connorstone Engineering, presented revised plans that reduced the need for overflow parking.

The revised plans have the building's available space down to 3,700 square feet, resulting in a revised capacity of 80.

In addition, DellaCroce told the board that in the case of an event that taxed the on-site parking, a traffic study showed that parking cars valet-style would result in more than enough room to park everyone on site.

DellaCroce anticipates attendance at church services to be between 15 to 20 members during Wednesday night services and 25 to 35 members during Sunday morning services. He said, given these numbers, the 32 spaces are more than enough for the site.

DellaCroce said the church does not rent out its building to the public for meetings or functions. He said the building will only be used for church services.

The board approved the site plan unanimously.