Planning Board to vote on church addition
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

Shrewsbury - The Shrewsbury Planning Board will vote next month on a proposed expansion of the Liberty Assembly of God located on Route 20.

The church is seeking approval to build a 1,100-seat two-story sanctuary along with more than 350 parking spaces at the site.

It is the parking that the board, which reviewed the proposal during a public hearing at its Jan. 3 meeting, had the most concern about.

The placement of handicap spaces as presented would allow handicapped accessibility to the sanctuary, but not to the attached outdoor pavilion that would be used for events in the nicer weather.

Wayne M. Belec, of Waterman Design Associates in Westborough, is the project manager of the expansion.

During the hearing, Belec said that the church would offer valet services to any handicapped visitors to the pavilion, a plan he said meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards because there are handicapped accessible routes to other areas of the sanctuary.

Shrewsbury Engineer Eric Denoncourt advised Belec to meet with Building Inspector Ron Alarie to review the entire plan to make sure it does, in fact, meet all ADA standards before the board votes on the expansion.

If not, representatives for the church said they would be happy to remove the pavilion from the current design to make sure the site is fully accessible to people with disabilities.

The board also expressed concern that having the outdoor pavilion so close to the parking lot could create a dangerous situation during well-attended events, and advised the church to hire a police officer to monitor all events that had more than 200 people in attendance.

The Planning Board closed the public hearing Jan. 3 and is expected to vote on the Liberty Assembly of God expansion project at its February meeting.