Planning Board approves revisions to Sacred Heart project

By Mark Wineka

mwineka@salisburypost.com

The Salisbury Planning Board has approved numerous revisions to the building designs and site plan for the $6 million Sacred Heart Catholic Church and School under construction off Jake Alexander Boulevard.

Gray Stout, architect for the project, said the changes came about because of issues during construction, requests from the church and efforts to reduce costs.

The school building is expected to be ready for the opening of classes in the fall.

The new church could be ready for services by the end of the year.

Many of the changes approved Tuesday by the Planning Board already had taken place and were OK'd after the fact.

It's only the second time the Planning Board has considered revisions to a Conditional District overlay under the new Land Development Ordinance.

Senior Planner Preston Mitchell and Planning Board member Diane Young said there is still a learning curve involved for everyone with the new ordinance as projects get into the construction phase.

Young added that she found nothing objectionable to the revisions Stout has made and would have supported them before the fact, too.

Stout noted that the revisions still have to be reflected in the master plan and apologized for changes taking place in the field that were not reflected in the original elevations that the Planning Board saw.

"I certainly do take responsibility for that," Stout said.

Though the board did not ask Stout to revert to his original plans, it has the authority to make him comply with what was approved earlier, Planning Board member Dick Huffman said.

Planning Board member Maggie Blackwell asked that in the future staff inform the board if revisions it is considering have already been made in the field.

Many of the changes involved things such as deleted and added windows and vents, relocated doors, deleted crosswalks and awnings, revised roof designs and different materials.

Some parking areas and a fire access lane were changed from gravel to asphalt. Additional trees were added because of an expanded parking area. A dumpster was relocated. Sidewalks that were supposed to be brick pavers have been changed to concrete."This is a significant revision," Mitchell said of the items taken as a whole.

The property takes in more than 100 acres with the new church, school, cemetery and athletic fields covering 57 acres.

The church will be roughly 33,700 square feet with seating for about 850 people. Stout said it will have 15 stained glass windows, including 10 from the present church at 128 N. Fulton St.

The 14,167-square-foot school building will include a gymnasium, the parish hall, classrooms and a full kitchen. Sacred Heart offers kindergarten through eighth grades.