By CHRISTINA RITCHIE ROGERS
CorneliusNews.net
Life Fellowship Church, a large non-denominational congregation that currently meets in Davidson, is seeking zoning approval to build a 17-acre worship campus off I-77 Exit 28 in Cornelius.
Life Fellowship campus site, off I-77 Exit 28.
The church has a contract to buy the land on the I-77 Service Road, west of the interstate and south of Catawba Avenue, for $1.4 million. If the town approves the rezoning request, construction on a first phase of the campus could begin in 2012.
Life Fellowship Church was founded in 2004 at the Havana Social Club in Cornelius and currently meets in the Community School of Davidson building on Griffith Street. Since its founding, the church has grown from about 140 regular worshippers to more than 700, and Lead Pastor Bobby Conway expects those numbers to increase at the new, permanent location.
The business-style campus eventually could include multiple buildings. But as the church expands, Pastor Conway said, it will keep focused on its mission: To pursue at all costs a passionate, God-centered life.
“Having a set of facilities should never change our mission, it should only allow us to expand that mission,” he said.
The town originally approved plans for a business campus on the property, owned by the Blakely family, but a few years ago the town “down-zoned” the property for rural preservation so that the owners would not need to pay taxes on a business property that was not being used, said Susan Irvin, the lawyer working on the rezoning. In the filed application, the plans call for a return to the original business campus zoning, she said.
Plans include construction of as many as four phases over the next 17 years, though exact plans and final project cost will depend on the church’s success in its new location.
“We will see what God does and what kind of growth we can expect,” Pastor Conway said.
Plans include a worship center, education center and outdoor amphitheater with baptismal pool. Phase I, expected to begin in 2012, includes a 24,000-square foot, 600-seat worship center with a large stage and a “black box” worship area for children.
The estimated project cost for Phase I is $6.1 million, which includes the land cost. Planners expect construction to take about a year.
“Purchasing the land allows us to phase into (the construction),” Pastor Conway said, without having to take out a large bank loan.
“We are financially very conservative as a church,” Pastor Conway said, “and we are committed to paying the land off before breaking ground.”
A drawing of the proposed campus. Click on the image to see more views (from Life Fellowship's application).
The design for the campus looks more like a business park than a traditional church campus, and as such it fits with the town’s original plans for the land, Ms. Irvin said (Click here to see drawings of the plan). And because the campus is highly-visible (along I-77), it also may attract other businesses to the area, Pastor Conway said.
Planning staff and church leaders held a community meeting Nov. 21 at Town Hall to share plans and to hear comments and concerns from citizens. Some residents living close to the site of the future amphitheater expressed concerns about possible noise from the venue, and planners are looking into that, Pastor Conway said.
The town’s Architectural Review Board unanimously approved the design for the campus, and the zoning application is currently under review. The Planning Board is expected to vote on the application in January, and if approved, it will go before the Town Board of Commissioners for final approval in February.
RELATED DOCUMENTS
Click here to see the rezoning plan (PDF)
Click here to see drawings of the plan (PDF)
Click here to see the traffic impact analysis (PDF)
