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Neighbors unhappy with parking plan
Journal Graphic
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Published: November 19, 2008
Updated: 11/19/2008 01:00 am
Late last week, a group of five teenagers hung out near a truck parked at River Oaks Community Church.
Some of the group smoked cigarettes, others drank sodas, and all listened to Led Zeppelin blasting from a stereo for about five minutes, before heading to West Forsyth High School.
It was 8:30 a.m.
It's the kind of scene that upsets the neighbors who live between the church and West Forsyth. River Oaks sits on about 28 acres on Lewisville-Clemmons Road, about 50 yards from the high school.
As a goodwill gesture, it allows the school to use 75 of its parking spaces for juniors and seniors. The students pay the school to park at the church, but the church receives no compensation. The students walk to school on a sidewalk that parallels Lewisville-Clemmons Road.
The church, which opened in 2006, recently acquired about 1.3 acres, much of which it plans to pave over so it can provide an additional 105 parking spaces for church members and students at West Forsyth.
The new lot will push up against the backyards of a few homes on Forest Oak Drive, including David Gregg's house.
"Who wants a parking lot in their backyard?" asked Gregg, who has lived on Forest Oak Drive for 33 years. "Nothing against the church, but they're imposing a bit on our neighborhood."
Gregg and two of his neighbors spoke out against the expansion of the lot during a public hearing at last week's meeting of Clemmon's village council.
Upon the recommendation of the village's planning staff and planning board, the council unanimously approved a special-use permit that allows the church to build a new parking lot. The council said that the church met all the criteria for such a permit. Gregg, Shane Allen and Ed Hughes, also of Forest Oak Drive, tried to convince the council that a new lot would affect the re-sale value of their houses.
They also said that students who park at the church occasionally cut through their yards while traveling back and forth between the church and the school.
Gordon Miller, who was representing the church at the meeting, said that it doesn't make sense for students to cut through their yards because it is not a shortcut.
"I can show you the trail," Gregg said.
Indeed, two days after the meeting, Gregg pointed to a worn spot along the edge of his backyard where it appears that people have been walking.
Miller said that offering parking to West Forsyth students fits in with the church's desire to be part of the community.
He said that the church will leave intact a row of trees that will separate the new parking lot from the neighbors' backyards. The site plan also calls for a 20-foot buffer.
Kurt Telford, the principal at West Forsyth, said that students who park at River Oaks are expected to treat that parking lot as an extension of school grounds. Told about the scene with the students, Telford said he would have a school resource officer at the parking lot.
He also asked neighbors to call the school if students are behaving inappropriately.
"We want to have a good relationship with our neighbors," Telford said.
"We've told the kids that we're there because River Oaks is allowing us to be there, and all they have to say is, ‘We don't want you here any more.'"
Several council members said they sympathized with the homeowners but said they were compelled to follow the planning board's recommendations.
"We sympathize, and we don't like it any better than you," council member Al Harbury told the homeowners.
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lodonnell@wsjournal.com.
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