Greenville News: NewSpring Meets City Officials on Greenville Site

City of Greenville officials are set to weigh in today in a dispute between Clemson University and the NewSpring megachurch. Clemson isn’t happy with NewSpring’s plans for a 1,400-seat church next to the university’s International Center for Automotive Research in Greenville.

At 4 p.m. today, the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals is scheduled to rule on the church’s request for an exception to parking requirements.

City planners are recommending against the zoning variance, having concluded in a report that the church’s request is “not consistent with the standards required to grant a variance.”

Anderson-based NewSpring envisions a 67,000-square-foot building with 874 parking spaces right beside ICAR’s Technology Neighborhood I, according to its application for the variance.

Clemson has said the ICAR area should focus on education, research-driven economic development and job creation and that the location “might not be the best fit.”