Congregational Church granted ‘change of use’ for new addition
The Commission had requested more information from the Congregational Church about the addition and renovations that took place a few years ago. A “change of use” could impact the church hookup to the sewer system. Congregational Church members Greg Schmidt, Chris Ashley, and Paul Green were at the meeting with renovation documentation, including the square footage of the addition (512), the increase in the number of toilets and sinks, and the number of seats in the largest room. According to Green, the largest room in the church is the sanctuary, and the seating remains the same as it was prior to renovations.
The church passed Title V inspection in 2001 with this same number of seats. The Commission said that the change of use applies because the square footage of the church increased by more than 5 percent. But commission member Cindy Russo also said that “if you constructed it under Title V, then it’s allowed.” The Commission unanimously approved the change of use, which is subject to approval by the Selectmen. Town Administrator Tim Bragan noted that the BOS is not accepting new agenda items for next week’s meeting, but the church could probably get it onto their Nov. 19 agenda.
