The Aurora City Council is looking at just how to handle a proposed expansion of a Hindu temple in a West Side neighborhood.
Sai Samsthan USA, a Hindu temple at 1101 Foran Lane, is proposing a two-phase expansion that would include enlarging the 5½-acre site on which it sits to 6 acres, and two building additions.
The expansion would be done in two phases, and while the second phase could be as much as five years away, city planning officials thought it would be best to bring the plans for both phases through the City Council at the same time.
Ed Sieben, the city’s Planning and Zoning director, said officials “saw no reason” to wait and bring the second phase through at a later date. Bringing them through together would mean there was a public hearing for both at the same time; bringing the second phase through later would mean a second public hearing.
“We look at it both ways,” he told aldermen. “We didn’t have a problem in phase two.”
But the City Council on Aug. 6 said it might be better to bring the second phase through later because of some issues neighbors have had with the temple.
Ald. Patty Smith, 8th Ward, chair of the council’s Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee, said waiting on the second phase might be “a compromise” between the temple and neighbors.
The temple currently has a 7,000-square-foot sanctuary building that accommodates 375 people, and wants to build a 3,400-square-foot addition that would provide more room for coats and shoes, with a meditation room. That would be the first phase.
Planners saw that as accommodating current worshipers at the temple, so it did not require any additional parking spaces. As part of the plan, temple officials also would expand the lot from 5½ acres to 6 acres to bring in a house at 1125 Foran Lane that the religious institution already owns. It would be used as an accessory dwelling for the temple’s worship leadership, according to city officials.
That part of the expansion would require an amendment to the conditional use already on the property.
The second phase is to build a 7,000-square-foot, two-story addition on the north side of the existing building for expanded worship, offices, classrooms and community space.
Planning officials said that would require another 36 parking spaces, which the temple could add to its current parking lot. As part of the overall subdivision the temple is on, there is a large open area.
What made aldermen balk at the plans were comments from nearby neighbors who said when the temple has big events, people park along the neighborhood streets, and there is traffic up and down the street.
Temple officials said most of that happened when the temple had its opening back in 2002, drawing thousands of people that normally would not have been there.
The temple also has a once a year event around Labor Day that draws a big crowd, officials said.
“It’s on one occasion, on Labor Day weekend,” a temple spokesman said.
This concerned some aldermen, who said temple officials said the expansion would have little affect on the neighborhood, but the experience of neighbors said otherwise.
“It is portrayed that this would be no negative effect on the neighborhood, but it sounds like there is a big negative effect,” said Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward.
Franco asked if temple officials could work with the city’s police department to better supervise parking and traffic control for its Labor Day events. The temple spokesman said they would do that.
Aldermen and Mayor Richard Irvin put the vote on the conditional use amendment and final plans on unfinished business for Tuesday’s regular City Council meeting to see if some of the issues could be addressed.
slord@tribpub.com