Syriac Church Agrees to Lower Dome Height

Application approved by Zoning Board
By Myles Ma
The Syriac Church will rise over West Midland Avenue, thought not as high as originally intended.

The church received the last piece of approval it needed from the Zoning Board of Adjustment Thursday.

The dome on a new cathedral will be 44 feet high instead of 47.5 feet. The board balked at the the latter height when it voted in February.

However, the board approved the cathedral’s 44-foot-high bell tower, which led to the church agreeing to lower the dome three feet. Borough code calls for a maximum height of 32 feet.

Ultimately the church’s plans for the cathedral and an assembly hall were all approved.

Residents living near the 55 W. Midland Ave. site spoke out against the planned construction over the course of the year-long application. Board member Fred Vavosa cited their concerns in voting against the height variance.

“I feel it’s going to reduce the quality of life for every resident that lives in that area,” Vavosa said.

At the February meeting, attorney Stuart Liebman said the state’s Municipal Land Use Law looks favorably on houses of worship, deeming them “inherently beneficial” developments.

He cited a history of successful appeals after zoning boards rejected similar applications.

In addition to the cathedral and the assembly hall, the church will also add a traffic light the intersection of West Midland Avenue and the entrances to the Syriac Church and the Church of the Annunciation. There are also plans to add left turn lanes entering into each church.

As another condition of the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s approval, the Syriac Church agreed never to use the cathedral and the assembly hall concurrently. That caveat was made to help ensure the 234 proposed parking spots, 103 less than required by code, don’t fill up.

Aside from height issues, residents who attended the hearings were also concerned about the traffic the new church will generate. Several complained about the congestion that already exists on Midland Avenue, stemming in part from students queuing up to make the left into Bergen Community College.

The Borough has started work on a set of traffic lights on West Midland Avenue at Country Club Road and Abbott Road to address those concerns. Work is due to finish in May.

http://paramus.patch.com/articles/syriac-church-agrees-to-lower-dome-height#photo-1710765