Duane Hicks
Whether residents file an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board regarding town council’s decision Monday night to rezone property at 1345 Emo Rd. not only will affect whether the church there will be sold and converted into apartments, but whether the United Pentecostal Church will be able to carry on with its plans to relocate to the former St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
Pastor Sean Ward said the church has been looking to sell its Emo Road property and relocate for a while, and received an offer from local businessman Dave Petsnick back in July.
At that time, the church agreed to accept his offer—contingent on the Presbyterian board in Toronto accepting the United Pentecostal Church’s offer to buy the former St. Andrew’s here.
The Presbyterian board, in fact, accepted the offer, and since then Pastor Ward and the United Pentecostal Church have been waiting to see what happens with the rezoning of the property from institutional to multi-residential (R4).
“The rezoning is the last step in [Petsnick’s] deal coming through and, of course, the money from the sale here is our collateral to stamp the deal over there [at St. Andrew’s],” he explained.
Pastor Ward said the United Pentecostal Church congregation is growing, and that its current location regularly is used each Sunday, as well as several times a week for men’s and women’s groups and youth activities, and once a month for their community care program (where youth meet to put together food boxes for the less fortunate and then distribute them).
But moving to the former St. Andrew’s, located at 324 Victoria Ave., would an ideal step toward long-term goals, said Pastor Ward.
“It’s an awesome location,” he enthused. “It’s a community building that’s been sitting empty for many years now, and I think it’s to the advantage of the community to have that building in service.
“We have a very community-minded group,” Pastor Ward added. “I would say 60 percent of our congregation is under the age of 40; there’s lot of young people.
“I feel like this is sort of a stepping stone. I’ve been involved in native ministries, travelling up to different communities in the north, and I’d like to establish a summer Bible college and that would be a great place to do it.
“My dad and I both have been involved in scouting for years and years, and that’s another one of my plans once we get in there is to get that program back up and running in the community,” noted Pastor Ward. “All of those things are community points.
“We’re here to work for our town, and that [location] would put us in an advantageous position,” he stressed.
Pastor Ward said he respects other residents’ opinions regarding the rezoning, but wanted the public to know “there’s more weighing in this whole situation than just an apartment being built here. There’s also a group that’s wanting to grow.”
As reported in Wednesday’s Times, council voted in favour of rezoning property at 1345 Emo Rd. from institutional to multi-residential (R4) so local resident Dave Petsnick could convert the former United Pentecostal Church into a three-unit apartment complex, as well as permit the construction of an additional complex at some point down the road.
But at that same meeting, some residents in the Emo Road area were disappointed by town council’s decision and said they plan to take the matter to the Ontario Municipal Board and appeal the rezoning amendment.
