Despite opposition from some citizens, the Plymouth Planning Commission last month gave the green light to Eagle Brook Church's plan to build a facility on the north end of the city.
The measure, which also calls for land to be rezoned to allow for a church, passed on a unanimous vote and is expected to go before the City Council on Dec. 12.
Eagle Brook, a megachurch with 11 campuses in the metro area and one in Rochester, this fall signed a purchase agreement for a plot of land on the northwest corner of Chankahda Trail and Maple Grove Parkway where it plans to build a 64,000 square-foot church seating 1,500 people with 685 parking spaces.
The church currently holds services at nearby Wayzata High School.
Residents living nearby have expressed concerns about increased traffic, noise and environmental impacts, and that an industrial-style building does not fit in the heart of existing neighborhoods.
"This is obviously a difficult decision, not because of the use, because I think we very much as a society we welcome churches into our communities," said commission chairman Michael Boo at the Nov. 15 meeting at which the commission approved the church's plans. "It is a difficult decision because it is a significant change from what neighbors may have expected when they bought their homes, when they built their houses. It is a permitted use."
