STUART, Fla. -- Treasure Coast Presbyterian Church officials have dropped plans to build new facilities on a residential road in Palm City, opting instead to build in a more rural location, The Stuart News reported.
"We are no longer pursuing the property on Sunset Trail," assistant minister Robert Watts told the Martin County Development Review Committee. "We've taken the commission's advice and found a property on a large highway."
The new plan calls for a 10,025-square-foot church and 3,200-square-foot fellowship on 5.5 acres south of Stuart.
The church has outgrown space it rents in historic Woodmen Hall, the newspaper reported. A year ago, neighbors on Sunset Trail objected to plans for the church to build there and drew attention to an obscure change in the county's zoning code that bars houses of worship larger than 5,000 square feet on residential streets.
Local clergy objected to the zoning change and commissioners agreed to reexamine the issue. It is under review by the county Local Planning Agency, which will make a recommendation to county commissioners.
