Archdiocese looking to build new church near Mandeville
The plan to build a new Catholic church at the end of Judge Tanner Boulevard near Mandeville is back on track, with St. Tammany Parish Councilman Marty Gould leading the charge more than a year after he opposed a plan for a larger church-owned development.
The Rev. Rodney Bourg, pastor of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, was photographed in July 2009.
The church which has operated since its inception in 2006 in the former Mr. Fish pet store on the U.S. 190 service road.
Gould contacted the Rev. Rodney Bourg several months ago about building a permanent home for Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which has operated since its inception in 2006 in the former Mr. Fish pet store on the nearby U.S. 190 service road. The discussion followed the decision last year by the Archdiocese of New Orleans to abandon plans for a traditional neighborhood development, which included a new church and a school, at the same location.
Nearby residents, worried about increased traffic and potential drainage problems, fought the plan. The parish’s Zoning Commission ultimately denied the project a permit, plus the archdiocese had difficulty obtaining a wetlands permit on the land from the Army Corps of Engineers.
Gould said then that he thought the project could have moved forward with just the church and school components. He reiterated that sentiment this week, saying he contacted Bourg after the fuss died down to let him know he could and would support building a new church in the same spot, on 360 acres that the archdiocese has owned for more than a century.
In addition, Gould has set aside money in the parish’s 2011 budget to build a bypass road between Judge Tanner and Dove Park Road, with the remainder of the money becoming available in 2012. The archdiocese is donating the land for the road, and both the church and the road projects would occur simultaneously, Bourg said.
View full sizeThe road will help keep church traffic from clogging Westwood Drive, as well as Beech and Orleans streets, eliminating a major stumbling block for those residents who previously had opposed the project. Plus, most of the church traffic will occur during off-peak times, such as weekends, Bourg said.
Most of the people who live in several of the surrounding neighborhoods, including Westwood, Dove Park and Brookstone, now are OK with the new church plan, Gould said. The neighbors just needed a little time to cool down before starting the process again, he said.
While the current church seats about 400, the new church would house more than twice that number, or closer to 900, Bourg said. In addition to the new church, the site would include a family life center, for events such as dinners and assemblies, as well as a pastoral center with church offices and religious education rooms, he said.
The archdiocese also is looking to build a cemetery on its land, though its exact location has yet to be determined, Bourg said.
A school is not included in the plan at this time, as the archdiocese announced this week that it is working on a strategic plan with regard to the future of its school system, Bourg said. If the archdiocese determines a need for another Catholic school in western St. Tammany Parish, then the church could move forward with such plans, he said.
Gould has sent two ordinances to the Zoning Commission suggesting that it consider changing the zoning on the seven acres for the church from A-1, which allows one home per five acres, to CB-1, or community-based facilities district, and on the 36 acres for the cemetery from A-1 to PF-1, or public facilities district.
The commission could consider the suggestions as soon as its Feb. 1 meeting, with the matter then going before the Parish Council for a final vote.
Bourg said he is waiting until the church secures the necessary zoning and permits to design the new buildings and to start a capital campaign to raise the money for the construction. However, he wants the new Most Holy Trinity to be finished in two years.
The church’s temporary home was supposed to last five years, and it’s almost been that long, Bourg said. As the congregation has grown, the church has run out of space to run its or youth education programs and is not able to offer space to all of the organizations that wish to meet there, he said.
Gould said the project will impact as little wetlands space as possible — less than the earlier project. And Bourg noted that the church will survey the property in an attempt to save as many significant trees on the property as possible.
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