By Jason Scheer
The Malverne Board of Zoning Appeals appeared set to render a decision on the church's plans at its Feb. 24 meeting. However, a lawyer for the church requested an adjournment.
The issue of expansion was first discussed by members of Our Lady of Lourdes more than four years ago. At the time, the church began internally discussing the ramifications of a priest shortage. With fewer priests, the church would have to host fewer weekend Masses, meaning that more people would attend any given Mass. The Rev. Donald Baier, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, suggested expansion as a means of eliminating the problem of an overcrowded, understaffed institution.
At the same time, parishioners and Baier recognized a need for handicapped access to the church. Expansion would help satisfy this need as well, they said.
Originally, church members agreed to expand the facility and build a gymnasium. However, initial fund-raising campaigns fell short, and plans for the gym had to be scrapped.
Even without the gym in the plans, 758 parishioners pledged money for the expansion project. Nearly 200 parishioners, however, oppose the plans. Those in opposition said they have not had enough input and would prefer to have the church made handicapped-accessible without drastically altering the layout of the building.
The issue first came before the BZA in September. However, the members of the board decided to table the decision in order to get more information from parties both in favor of the expansion and against it.
The decision was tabled again at the Oct. 28 and Dec. 5 meetings. Because of the holiday season, the Feb. 24 meeting was the first scheduled for the new year.
"We're looking into other options," Baier said about the adjournment.
Margaret Paone, one of the most outspoken critics of the proposed expansion, said the long process has been frustrating for everyone involved and should have been avoided all together.
"As I've said before, if it had been handled properly in the beginning, if the parish and people had been consulted in the beginning, this wouldn't have happened," she said. "[Expansion] was just something that all of a sudden, we were going to do and we had to do."
The BZA's next meeting is scheduled for March 31.
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