Mormon Church Opposed -- East Hill Neighborhood Worries About Impact

KENT

With about 7 million followers worldwide, the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has blossomed since its birth in upstate New York in 1830.

But more Mormon worshipers also mean more Mormon churches, and to some residents on Kent's East Hill that's perceived as a neighborhood land-use problem.

The residents, worried about additional traffic and noise, are bristling over Mormon plans to build a 15,000-square-foot church near their houses just south of Kentridge High School.

``In this case, the LDS Church has chosen to locate in the middle of a neighborhood, so everybody has to drive through the neighborhood to get there,'' said Pete Stream, who lives in the Glencarin subdivision.

The opponents appealed the Mormon Church's assertion that the project doesn't need an environmental-impact statement. They say Mormon officials failed to assess church growth and underestimated the effect traffic will have on their neighborhood.

A King County hearing examiner began hearing the appeal yesterday in the Building and Land Development office in Bellevue, but he won't give his decision until later.

One of the adversaries, Phyllis Cavender, said an LDS official told her Mormons prefer to locate their churches in residential areas because there are fewer break-ins and less vandalism.

That's fine for the church but an imposition on homeowners who may encounter a steady flow of cars driving by their houses and endangering their children, says Cavender.

``That really bothers me somehow,'' Cavender said. While the church seeks to be protected, it creates a nuisance in the process, she said. ``That seems pretty self-serving to me.''

But Larry Pitts, president of the Kent Stake of the Mormon Church, said land availability and member density also determine where churches are built. Church members refer to their geographical areas as ``stakes.'' Each stake, or territorial division, consists of a group of wards under the jurisdiction of a president.

``I understand some of their concerns about the traffic, but on the other hand there are a good number of people that want it there,'' said Pitts, who has met with dissident residents.

An estimated 60 Mormon families live among the 1,100 homes in the Glencarin area. Diane Herman, one of the nearby Mormons, said she looks forward to walking to church.

Mormon leaders said the number of church members has increased steadily in suburban King County and is due both to an influx of converts as well as the area's exploding population. To keep up with their growth, the Mormons also are planning to build another church between Kent and Auburn.

Don LeFevre, director of press relations for the church in Salt Lake City, said the number of Mormons in Washington state has risen from 172,000 in 1987 to more than 180,000 now. There are about 4.2 million Mormons in the United States.

Betty Renkor, a county planner, said the East Hill church application calls for parking for 121 vehicles.

The new church building near the intersection of Southeast 216th Street and 128th Place Southeast would serve three wards (each ward has a capacity of about 600 persons) from the Kent area.

Renkor said the Mormons want to build their church on 3.83 acres of residentially zoned land they own. They won't need a zoning change for the building, which would be used for Sunday services and for other activities during the week.

Pitts said the church, or ward building, won't have a gym and will be smaller than a stake center.

``There is a seminary class that is held weekdays in the morning for 45 minutes, and that is the only class,'' Pitts said. ``Then it is not used for the rest of the day.''

Two evenings a week there will be youth activities ``like Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts and things like that,'' he added. He said the Scouting activities would be open to non-church members as well as members.

But Cavender said the Mormons typically use their church buildings six or seven days a week for everything from dance lessons to basketball games. She said she had been told there would be a gym in the East Hill building.

Cavender praised the Mormons for utilizing their church buildings so well.

``But please, not in our back yards,'' she said. ``We don't want a YMCA. We would be opposed to any church in there, but we are strongly opposed to a community center going in there.''

LDS leaders recently told residents they don't want to place a church in an area where it isn't wanted. The residents noted, however, the Mormons still are pushing ahead with their plans in spite of widespread opposition.