Bethel Christian Reformed Church
Dunnville, Ontario
Background
Bethel Christian Reformed Church (BCRC), located in Dunnville, Ontario started serving its members spiritual needs in 1958. They purchased their current property in 1959 and opened their doors in 1961. The BCRC has a growing congregation which triggered their need to expand.
The Project
The BCRC currently has a 300-person capacity in their building with plans to increase the space to accept 450 people. Beginning in 2018, church leadership approached Haldimand County regarding an expansion. This led to consultation with the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), which initially resulted in a “no expansion is possible.” Our job was to address or avoid that issue.
The current building is on multiple levels which made accessibility a challenge and needed to be improved. This meant they needed to find a new location or re-design the building. After a local search, we found there were no locations in the area that were satisfactory, so BCRC decided to re-design and expand their existing church building. Once confirming that expanding on their existing site was best, a larger septic tank was also needed as were more parking spaces. A simple project: expanding the church had become very challenging.
Looking for a planning professional to help them through the process, the BCRC contacted Mike Sullivan to help. The project started through SullivanPlan and continued with LandPro Planning as the lead consultant.
Key Support Offered
The BCRC previously were able to manage smaller planning projects on their own, but because of the challenges and size of this project, they needed help to navigate, manage the project and advise them on each step.
After the initial time to identify BCRC’s needs, we managed the project for them, including dealing with the County, hiring experts as needed, managing the permits, and representing them at meetings as necessary.
How We Helped
We found and evaluated different locations in the area.
After working with the client to confirm their needs, locations brought forward were not suitable, and the BCRC decided they wanted to stay. There was a location (school) but there was just as much effort to do that as to do the right thing. They ideally wanted to stay.
We addressed the challenge that the current location was in a flood plain.
The client’s first contact with the County gave them a ‘no’ because there is a significant wetland just north of their property, which meant they are on a flood plain. The GRCA set a minimum flood elevation for new and revised buildings. We were required to demonstrate that they could meet all the requirements before they could get the project approved. This required a flood plain engineer to do a study.
We were able to help the client to move forward with expansion by adding land to the project, via severance (from neighbours land). This was followed with a zoning amendment to ensure they had permission to expand, having enough room in the plan for potential future expansion, including overflow parking for events. The project was approved.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“Bethel CRC Building Committee embarked upon an expansion plan in the 2015 . Very early in the process we experienced several planning challenges that where very difficult to over come. Mike Sullivan and his team where very helpful and resourceful in assisting, leading , guiding us along the way . From planning to rezoning to budgeting they kept us on track . Their constant coaching and leading us through this process was very appreciated. Thank you for a Job well done!”
— Ken Zantingh – Chair of the Bethel Building and Planning Committee
Deliverables
Hired a Flood Engineer to confirm where the flood plain is on the property and to see if the expanded property could fit. Originally the GRCA said no, but the results of the study said it was possible for the property expansion.
Hired a Septic Engineer to evaluate and design a new septic system to accommodate the expansion.
Zoning Amendment - Rezoning to get County permission for the expanded use. BCRC is zoned “Rural Institutional”, but the lands being added were Agricultural so a zoning change was required.
Severance (Boundary adjustment) – Adjoining land was severed, purchased by BCRC, and added to the property to fit the expansion.
Site plan for the property to allow construction to be built. This is currently in progress (July 2021)
Next Steps
Raise Funds > Site Plan approval > GRCA Work Permit – to go into a regulated area and alter it > County Building Permit > Building begins!