Bloomingdale gives church the go-ahead for relocation

Call it divine intervention. Call it people working together.

Either way, the Aquila Christian Ministries group was allowed Monday to begin relocating its Temple of Praise Worship Center into Bloomingdale following almost a year of negotiations that ran the gamut from threats of religious freedom litigation against the village to handshakes.

The group's attorney Richard Baker responded to Monday's 5-1 vote in favor of the church with a slight fist pump and a smile.

"I'm ecstatic. That's the best word for it," Baker said after the meeting. "There was a lot of careful planning and working together by everyone involved. Everyone so far has just been just great and in the end the village was willing to work with us too."

Since last November, the 60-member church has sought rezoning, from a general commercial classification to a single family residential classification, and a special use permit that would allow the church to convert the former KinderCare building at 286 S. Glen Ellyn into a new church for the growing congregation.

The village's plan commission initially refused to recommend the plan to the village board at its Nov. 21 meeting, citing the placement of a majority of the 41 proposed parking spaces in the flood zone of the DuPage River's east branch. The commission also cited doubts that the church would fit in with the surrounding area, which includes a veterinarian, a rec center and a restaurant on one side and a residential neighborhood on the other.

Monday night's approval allows church officials to proceed with an off-site shared parking agreement with the adjacent Bloomingdale Animal Hospital and approves the church's final site plan.

"This lot hasn't been called the most difficult piece of property in the whole village for nothing," Baker said. "There are a lot of changes that have to be made now that we have shared parking agreement."

Baker said the church would be anxious to be in the new facility as early as the spring but he realized that was an aggressive timeline for the necessary renovations.

"Knowing Rev. Larry (DeSantis) he wants in there as quickly as possible," Baker said. "He's waited a long time for this."