The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has begun construction for a new facility at 750 Neal Street in Cookeville.
Community Development Director Jon Ward said the project is currently in the early stages of development as crews begin preparing the land for the new structure. Ward said the church is relocating from its current site on South Walnut Avenue to the new property they purchased off Neal Street.
“They had submitted site plans through the city’s Codes Division,” Ward said. “Those site plans have been reviewed and they’ve been issued a building permit to build the church.”
Ward said the Planning Commission denied a request for the church to access the development via Maple Point Drive following concerns from residents in the nearby townhome development. Ward said the project was redesigned to include a full access point on South Maple Avenue and a restricted right-in, right-out access point on Neal Street.
“The Planning Commission did not approve the access point on Maple Point Drive, so they redesigned to connect a driveway to South Maple Avenue,” Ward said. “They have an access point on Neal Street. It’s restricted to right-in, right-out and they also have a full access point on South Maple.”
Ward said the restriction on Neal Street means the city will not cut the median or install a turn lane, limiting that specific entrance to westbound traffic. Ward said the construction team recently began clearing the site and installing temporary fencing around the perimeter.
“I don’t believe any of the structure has,” Ward said regarding the current progress of the building. “Now, I haven’t driven out there in a couple days, but I think they’ve just been, you know, clearing and getting ready to grade and things like that to get ready to start building.”
Ward said the church was required to submit a traffic impact study to analyze how the new location would affect the intersection of Maple Avenue, Veterans Drive and Neal Street. Ward said the study focused on the specific demands of a religious facility, which typically sees its highest usage during times when general city traffic is lighter.
“One of the big things about this, is this is a Sunday morning demand and it’s a time where our traffic is lighter than our higher demand times in the afternoons and mornings and afternoons on weekdays,” Ward said. “So I think that was one of the things that was was definitely something you saw in the traffic study.”
Ward said churches are not restricted by zoning ordinances like commercial or residential buildings.
“I mean, we the code allows churches in all districts,” Ward said. “Single-family, commercial, multi-family, churches are permitted in all zones. But they’re still subject to the standards of the code. And they’ve submitted a site plan that meets those standards.”