UPDATED: Huntley Village Board Meeting

Updated: Friday, Dec. 16, 11:00 am

The Huntley Village Board at its meeting Thursday night unanimously approved the amendment allowing St. Mary Catholic Church to proceed with plans to build a parish ministry center.

The board granted the church relief in the number of parking spaces required.

However, the church must landbank -preserve space on the property - for approximately 114 spaces should village leaders ever determine a need for additional parking spots in the future.

In other news: Trustees renewed 18 class A liquor licenses for Huntley businesses, and repealed two licenses. One license was repealed from Del Toro's Tex Mex Grill and Bar, 10400 Route 47, because the business is closing on Dec. 23.

The other license was repealed because School Street Station Bistro, 9704 Route 47, did not request renewal. The bistro will remain open, however. The Huntley Liquor Commission traditionally repeals any unused licenses.

Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011

Huntley Village Board Considers St. Mary Church Addition Plans

Huntley Village Board members, in viewing plans for the proposed addition, must contemplate an amendment reducing the required number parking spaces at the church.

The Village Board meets at 7 p.m. Thursday at Village Hall, 10987 Main St., to discuss the amendment necessary for church leaders to move forward with plans to build the $7 million parish ministry center.

The 32,567-square-foot ministry center at the church, located at 10307 Dundee Rd., Huntley, necessitates an additional 260 parking spots, per village code.

The church currently has 553 parking spots - more than the 435 required - but is not planning to build more spaces along with the expansion. That leaves the project 144 spaces short.

However, a remedy discussed by the Huntley Plan Commission last month could come in the form of landbanked parking. Landbanked parking could provide 138 parking spaces, when needed. Trustees will review the proposal at tonight’s meeting.

The new parish center would include a 600-person parish hall, small chapel, 10 meeting rooms, office space and a full kitchen, per plans presented to the Village Board. The addition would be built with brick veneer and an asphalt-shingled, multi-gabled roof to match the existing exterior of the church, built in 2001.

The parish ministry center would be larger than the existing St. Mary Church sanctuary, which is 22,981 square feet. St. Mary Catholic Church serves 5,000 households and has depleted all classroom space used for religious education courses at Marlowe Middle School in Lake in the Hills, the Rev. Steve Knox said.

“This addition would give us another place to meet,” the Rev. Knox said. “It will be used for social gatherings, administrative offices and have a small chapel. Our parish is pretty excited about it.”

Rev. Knox said construction on the parish center could begin as early as next spring, or possibly one year from now. Commencement of the project depends upon fundraising, he said.