Baltimore County officials have put a halt to a Hunt Valley church's plan to build a large new facility on rural Shawan Road.

A divided zoning appeals board ruled Thursday that Hunt Valley Baptist Church should not be granted permission to build a 1,000-seat sanctuary, classrooms and gym on a 17-acre farm just west of Interstate 83.

Neighbors in rural northern Baltimore County have clashed with church leaders over the plans for the site, about 3 miles from the church's current home off Cuba Road.

They feared the plans represented a “megachurch” that would overwhelm two-lane Shawan Road, spoil bucolic vistas and potentially harm a nearby stream.

“We're thrilled. It's been a really long fight,” said Elizabeth Buxton, director of the Valleys Planning Council, which supported neighbors in the appeal.

Gus Rodriguez, Hunt Valley Baptist Church assistant pastor, and his attorney, Lawrence E. Schmidt, declined to comment until the board's written ruling is issued. The board has no deadline for issuing the ruling but generally does so within 60 days.

The church has the option of appealing the board's ruling to the Baltimore County Circuit Court.

The proposed church site is under a category of conservation zoning that allows only limited development. Building a church requires a special exception.

An administrative judge granted the special exception to the church early last year. The Board of Appeals later heard seven days of testimony stretched out over several months.

Appeals board member Andrew M. Belt, who led the board's deliberations, described the case as difficult.

“There is no villain. ... Both sides in this situation are good, well-intentioned people,” Belt said.

In debating the case, board members zeroed in on part of the zoning code that states a special exception should not be granted if the proposal is “inconsistent with the spirit and intent” of zoning rules or inconsistent with zoning for the area.

Hunt Valley Baptist's proposal includes a 30,000-square-foot sanctuary, offices, a gym and parking for 240 cars. The church would have a 105-foot steeple.

Appeals board member James H. West said when members of the County Council allowed churches in resources conservation zones decades ago, they probably didn't contemplate churches on the scale of Hunt Valley Baptist Church's proposal.

“It's a church, but it's more than a church,” West said.

Appeals board member Meryl W. Rosen agreed: “I don't think a church of this scope was envisioned,” she said.

Belt said he had concerns about the size of the church but didn't think it was the “death knell” for the project. He was outvoted by the other members, 2 -1.

Buxton said the case underscores the need for zoning rules to be updated to accommodate today's churches, which are often bigger and offer more services than houses of worship in past generations. The Valleys group has been fighting other large churches trying to open or expand in rural areas.

“This is an epidemic across the country — these large complexes that identify as a church but are these large structures with gyms and basketball courts,” Buxton said. “Our zoning has to adapt to this new phenomenon.”

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