BCC Building Program Update
July 24, 2007 - The Planning Board Meeting
Review of the proposed Scope for the Environmental Impact Study. The Bedford Town Planning Board met on Tuesday evening, July 24th. The Planning Board now has the responsibility to define the requirements of the EIS. Once the Scope has been finalized the required studies and reviews will be initiated.
June 14,2007-Planning Board Meeting Update
The “official” process to obtain the many approvals from the Town of Bedford to develop the Buxton property and build a new church building began this past Tuesday, June 12. The BCC application was the last item on a very busy Town Planning Board (TPB) agenda which meant we started late in the evening (10:50 PM) and were not finished until a few minutes before mid-night.
As a matter of procedural formality, the professional Team was introduced (see below) and the BCC Preliminary Plan formally submitted to the Town for review and approval. The presentation consisted of a brief update on the many significant changes that were made to the Site and Building Plans as a result of the two meetings with the neighbors and numerous discussions with other interested parties over the past 12 months. The TPB members appreciated the revisions.
The next 45 minutes was a page by page review of the Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) that is required for all development and building projects. This assessment becomes the starting point for an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) which will need to be completed by BCC. [Planning Engineer Patrick Cleary was engaged by the Elders last month to lead this effort].
The first step in the EIS is to develop the “Scope” of the study—traffic, wetlands, septic, etc.—and Patrick will work with the Town Engineer to define recommendations for the TPB of the various studies that should be completed. This effort will be completed over the next few weeks and the recommendations are to be presented to the TPB at their July 24th meeting. At this meeting, the public will have the opportunity to comment on the recommended Scope. After these inputs the TPB has the responsibility to define the requirements of the EIS. Once the Scope has been finalized the required studies and reviews will be initiated.
The only decision made at the meeting was the TPB voting to recommend to the Town Board the TPB should be the lead agency in the BCC project.
June 11, 2007-Meeting with RLUPA attorneys
Frank Veith and I met with John Marwell, Dan Hollis and Diana Bunin from the law firm of Shamberg Marwell Davis & Hollis, PC [smdhlaw.com] and to introduce the BCC project and discuss engaging them to lead us through the legal side of the approval process [the Elders had approved the hiring of legal support for this process].
Just like the other members of the BCC Professional Team, these individuals are people of outstanding character and recognized leaders in their profession. They have a great deal of experience with RLUIPA [Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act] and many successes in assisting religious and educational organizations gain the required approvals without undue costs and delays.
The addition of these local attorneys to the extensive legal support that will be provided by the CMA national office will insure the interest of BCC and its members are properly protected. Additionally, now that we have selected John, Dan and Diana we can start the process to have much of the legal costs and support assisted by the national office through the Alliance Development Fund.
BCC Professional Team:
Legal:
Church Counsel Frank Veith
RLUPA and P&Z Shamberg Marwell Davis & Hollis
John Marwell
Dan Hollis
Diana Bunin
Architects and Engineers
Lead Design Architects KG&D
Erik Kaeyer
Russ Davidson
Rick Torres
Planning Engineer Patrick Cleary
Traffic Engineer John Collins
Other Information:
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act [RLUIPA] www.rluipa.com
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