Public Hearing Scheduled to Obtain Permissions to Expand Parish

by Anna C.

The Church Expansion Project has some important milestones to report!

1. We finally have a date for the public hearing — June 7, 2023. This is a major milestone as it is the last step in obtaining a special permit for expanding a “commercial” building in a residential neighborhood. Having worked with the county for over a year now, to address their comments and incorporate their recommendations, we are hopeful that the permit will be granted soon after. Turn back to p.2 for details on how you can watch or listen to the hearing online, or even attend in person!
2. The parish council reviewed the architectural design submitted to the county, made recommendations on adjustments and officially ratified the plan.
3. As required by law, Maria and Sri have sent to our neighbors the legal notice from The Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals alerting them of the public hearing on this application.
4. Maria and I held two user group meetings: one for the design of the new kitchen and another for the fellowship hall. After working with the county, parish council and our engineer to advance the design, Maria needed feedback from the people who will actually use the facilities and, especially, those who have been the most frequent users.
5. After approval from the parish council, we hired mechanical/electrical/plumbing and structural engineers to further develop the expansion drawings to the point that we will be able to get bids from contractors. These positions had already been approved by the General Assembly as an item of the project’s budget.

FROM DREAM TO REALITY: PUTTING THE NITTY-GRITTY DETAILS IN THE ARCHITECTURAL PLAN

We have worked together as a parish to articulate and visualize our vision. The time has now come to go beyond concept to the nitty-gritty details of how we want to utilize the new spaces, the kind of appliances, facilities, flow, storage etc. that are needed to enable the priorities the parish established through extensive research and a series of interviews. Accordingly, our mandate is to make sure that the new design:

• Enables handicapped access.
• Delivers a considerably larger Fellowship Hall to allow us to provide a comfortable and attractive space for visitors and parishioners and hold multiple events.
• Provides us with an updated, spacious, and fully equipped commercial kitchen.
• Allows us to increase and diversify the church’ income-generating capabilities, for example, by renting fellowship hall, classrooms, or commercial kitchen facilities, holding food festivals, etc.
• Expands the parking lot to accommodate many more vehicles.

On two consecutive Sundays, April 30 and May 7, two groups of parishioners met to determine details in the kitchen and fellowship hall respectively.

KITCHEN

In both discussions we stressed that our focus must not be limited to our current needs but anticipate future needs and allow us to avail ourselves of future opportunities and needs we may be unable to visualize at the present. Highlights on the group’s recommendations included:

• Single freezer and double refrigerator.
• Outdoor trash cans’ close to the exit from the fellowship hall.
• Large opening for serving food and returning dishes
• Direct door from the kitchen to the fellowship hall
• Separate coffee station
• Equipment list:
  • 8 burners for cooking (2 ranges with ovens)
  • Double convection oven
  • Combi oven
  • 1 microwave
  • Cooling rack
  • Dish rack
  • Double refrigerator, but single freezer
  • 3-bowl sink
  • 1 commercial dishwasher
  • Tables with drawers and shelves
  • Overhang pot racks
  • 2 carts stored under the serving counter

Storage emerged as a major issue. It was thought important to store things in the projected basement, right under the kitchen.

FELLOWSHIP HALL & OTHER SPACES

The plan to date calls for digging out building a basement without finishing it at this stage. However, as the conversation progressed, we found that storage, service to the youth, improvements to Sunday School facilities, future growth possibilities etc. could NOT be adequately met without finishing the basement.

The group’s recommendations, as a result, were to include in the drawings and budget a plan for a finished basement that would contain:

• State-of-the-art classrooms and activity spaces
• Handicapped bathrooms
• Storage space with a dumbwaiter linking the kitchen with the basement
• Space for meetings
• Leaving open the possibility that the church might consider starting a school someday, holding day camps, holding workshops and other opportunities we are not currently aware of.

Also:

• The fellowship hall shall have noise cancellation measures in place.
• Fr. David asked if the exterior stairs to the basement can be moved inside.
• The stage is to be removed and we will use a mobile podium if ever needed.

Just imagine! With the addition of a finished basement, the new plan will accommodate needs for the present and future, parishioners and visitors, youth and adults, present and future generations.

Our next step is to work with the architect and engineers to develop the construction design that, upon approval from the parish council, will reflect these recommendations.