Update on the court case surrounding the new church in Mandeville

Mandeville church decision heading to judge Thursday

Published: Wednesday, April 18, 2012

By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune

A state judge on Thursday will hear a request by Our Lady of the Lake Catholic church to overturn a ruling by the city's Zoning Board that denied OLL's request for new, larger church on its campus in old Mandeville.

Rendering of proposed new church for Our Lady of the Lake Catholic parish in Mandeville.

 

Citing concerns that the size of the proposed church would unduly burden the surrounding community, the Zoning Board last October rejected the church's request for a special permit to build a $13 million, 16,715-square-foot Gothic Revival-style building on the other side of Lafitte Street from the existing church.
The board's ruling capped a series of public meetings last summer and fall during which the church proposal was alternately loved and loathed -- praised by supporters as an iconic building in which the church's large congregation could finally worship nearly as a whole and pummeled by critics as a vehicle that would exacerbate the area's traffic and parking woes while sticking out like an architectural sore thumb.
The church appealed the board's ruling to state court, arguing it was "arbitrary and capricious" and relied on the criticism of church opponents and untrained observations regarding traffic congestion and area parking problems. The Zoning Board's attorney contends the board was within its power to reject the permit and noted that the board's unanimous decision came after hours of hearings and presentations.
"The process was so open and allowed everyone to have input it was not possibly arbitrary and capricious," Lloyd "Sonny" Shields, a New Orleans lawyer representing the Zoning Board, said.
Attorneys for the church and the city are set to argue their cases, spelled out in voluminous filings that cite myriad land use cases, before state District Judge William Crain at the St. Tammany Parish courthouse in Covington.
Calls to Our Lady of the Lake's lawyers were referred to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Sarah Comiskey McDonald, the archdiocese's director of communications, issued this statement Tuesday: "Our Lady of the Lake Parish is following the steps as outlined by City of Mandeville regarding its appeal to the zoning board decision. The church parish hopes that the appeal will yield positive results that will allow the parish to eventually build their church. As this is a pending legal matter, we cannot discuss details but look forward to the hearing on April 19."
OLL's proposed new church sparked controversy in old Mandeville almost from the moment the Rev. John Talamo presented it to parishioners at Easter weekend Masses in 2010. Critics took to the Internet, posting sometimes satirical items on an anti-new church website, Save Old Mandeville, and commissioned a poll that they said showed the new church did not enjoy widespread support throughout old Mandeville. The new church proposal lingered into this spring as it became an issue in several Mandeville city elections.

Scott Threlkeld / The Times-PicayuneThe current Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Mandeville.

 

The church countered that it has been a vital part of the city for more than 160 years. The new building, supporters said, would help accommodate the crowds that flock to Masses each weekend. In its application for a zoning permit, the church said it has nearly 3,000 registered families in its congegration, with 6,500 people attending weekend Masses on average. Due to the crowding in the current 465-seat church, a majority of attendees must participate in Masses at the nearby Chotin Center, a multi-purpose building that houses the school's gym, the church said.
The proposed new church would seat 1,028 people.
The Zoning Board was sympathetic to the church's crowding, but its debate centered on traffic and parking headaches along the narrow streets of old Mandeville. The board also noted in its denial of the permit that the church had not been in compliance with a permit granted in 1999 to build the Chotin Center, in which the Chotin Center was only to be used for Mass on Easter, Christmas and special occasions.
In denying the permit for the new church, the board said OLL could continue to use the Chotin Center for Masses each weekend.
Mike Sciortino, an OLL parishioner and chairman of the capital campaign to raise money for the new church, said the board's denial was disappointing but that supporters are committed to the project.
"Our unity and commitment to the new church project is stronger than it's ever been right now," he said.