Greenville Turns Down NewSpring Plans for I-85 Location
Friday, September 20, 2013 at 5:32AM A megachurch that wants to expand in Greenville may have to change plans due to a decision handed down by Greenville's Board of Zoning Appeals Thursday night.
NewSpring Church, which has campuses in cities across South Carolina, wants to build a church that can seat 14,000 people along the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research campus in Greenville.
Thursday night, church representatives asked for permission to create more parking spaces than the number typically allowed.
"In order to properly park the cars that come to our 14,000-seat auditoriums, we need 874 parking spaces," said Campus Development Pastor Howard Frist.
The board denied the request, saying that much parking could be harmful to the rest of the CU-ICAR development.
Frist turned down WYFF4's request for an interview but gave a statement, saying, "We're disappointed with the outcome of this vote, but our team will take a further look at this and consider our options."
Clemson University officials have opposed the development, saying the CU-ICAR campus may not be the best fit for the church.
Frist also told the board that NewSpring has plans for two additional campuses in the Greenville area.
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