GRACE CHURCH LOSES - EVERYBODY LOSES

“I read the news today, oh, boy,” laments The Beatles’ 1967 song, “A Day in the Life”.  Well, I read the news yesterday morning and as that song goes on to say, “the news was rather sad.”  No, I’m not talking about what the terrorists had planned for transatlantic flights, although that IS devastating news, indeed.  I’m talking about the local Framingham situation about Grace Congregational Church and its struggle to build a new facility.  To be blunt:  they lost.  Well, to be much more accurate, they lost this round, but their battle continues on.

This should all be a no brainer:  A half-acre lot in a residential neighborhood which borders a heavily retail/commercial area.  For over forty years a Jehovah’s Witnesses “Kingdom Hall” (and its parking lot) was located on the half-acre site.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses have relocated to Ashland.  The property was sold to Grace Congregational Church, a United Church of Christ congregation which has been in existence in Framingham for many years.  The church originally considered remodeling the “Kingdom Hall” but the building had so many serious structural issues that it just was not feasible.  The old building has been torn down.  The church’s architect has drawn up plans for a SLIGHTLY SMALLER building than previously existed on the property, along with plans for a parking lot for 34 cars. Incidentally, I forgot to mention that the small church has fewer than fifty people in attendance for Sunday services.  

Considering the facts, what’s the problem?  Two things.  First,  although the Jehovah’s Witness facility was “grandfathered in” the Town now requires all “commercial” buildings (don’t even get me started about what a nuisance it is that a church is considered a “commercial” building!) in that part of Framingham to be located on sites that are at least one acre in size.  The lot is half the (now) required size.  Two, several of the neighbors have “pitched a fit” (my phrase) about Grace Congregational Church relocating there.  Wow, let’s see.  It’s a TERRIBLE thing for a small Protestant Church to be located on that site...but what was located on that site for the past forty years?  Well, the issue has become a hot potato for the “powers that be” at the Framingham Memorial Building.  (Our church went through a similar  nightmare in the mid-1990s but this is not the time to talk about that.)

Some weeks ago, I was pleased to attend a public hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding this issue.  I spoke out on behalf of Grace Congregational Church, and I was pleased to do so.  I guess I should have figured out that when Chairman Phil Ottaviani referred to me as “my friend” it was not a good omen.  I don’t mean anything personal against Ottaviani, and I’m sure he’s a nice guy.  But that’s been my life experience when people say, “my friend” in those public, legal kind of situations.  This week the Z.B.A.  denied Grace Congregational Church’s proposal, citing lack of parking as the main issue.  According to the article in the MetroWest Daily News, the church has been other plans in mind, and ultimately the issue could be taken to court.

I know, I know.  They DIDN’T have the one acre lot size.  Ottaviani is quoted as saying a line had to be drawn in the sand.  Well, I’ll give the Z.B.A. a “line” from the Bible.  It’s from 2 Corinthians 3:6.  “...for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”