Proposed Church at Williamsburg Pottery Gets Thumbs Down from James City Staff
Parking, traffic and access issues still to be considered by Planning Commission later this week, Supervisors later this year
James City County planning staff are recommending against approval of a rezoning and master plan amendment that would allow a large church to move into one of the existing buildings at the Williamsburg Pottery property.
In a report prepared for the November 5 Planning Commission public hearing, staff concluded that while the proposal is consistent with the county’s Comprehensive Plan, it does not adequately address significant operational and logistical challenges, including parking capacity, traffic circulation, and the ability of the county to enforce conditions proposed by the church.
The application, filed on behalf of Coastal Community Church, seeks to amend existing proffers for the 14-acre site at 6810 Richmond Road to allow the church to occupy Building B, a large vacant structure on the property.
According to county documents, the church would like to conduct two Sunday services with up to 1,000 seats in its main auditorium. The report warns that overlapping arrivals and departures between the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services could overwhelm available parking and cause congestion at the site’s two signalized entrances, resulting in backups that could extend onto Richmond Road.
While the site currently includes 236 parking spaces, the proposed subdivision of the property would allocate only 208 to the church, an amount that county planning staff determined was inadequate for the anticipated attendance.
“During the transition between services, parking may not be available and significant traffic congestion at the two intersections may lead to traffic backing up on Richmond Road,” staff wrote in their report to the Planning Commission.
County planners noted that a proffer referencing a 50-space parking easement with the adjoining Pottery Factor property has not yet been formalized and the subdivision creating separate parcels for each building has not been approved. Staff determined that without these conditions in place, access to the church site from Richmond Road may not be guaranteed.
Another issue cited in the staff report involves the ability of the county to monitor and enforce attendance-related proffered conditions. For example, one proposed proffer would limit attendance for special events, such as holiday services, to 800 people, but planning staff said such restrictions were not feasible under county procedures.
The staff report concludes that while the project would bring new activity to a long underutilized commercial site, “staff is unable to recommend approval of this application due to the unmitigated impacts.”
The Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the application on November 5 at 6 p.m. at the James City County Government Center. The Board of Supervisors is tentatively expected to review the request on December 9.
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