Catholic Church representative asks Spring Hill to waive traffic study for Buckner Lane access

Jonathan Duda, speaking for the Catholic Church of Nativity, asked the Spring Hill Planning Commission on March 23 to reconsider the city’s request that the church pay for a new traffic access study tied to a proposed second entrance on Buckner Lane.

Duda said the curb cut and driveway were installed during the Buckner Lane widening and that the church does not intend to increase sanctuary seating. “We respectfully ask the city to reconsider its request for the Church of Nativity to complete a traffic access study and rely on the decisions that have previously been made by the city during the Buckner Lane widening project rather than requiring the church to fund a new study,” he said.

Duda told commissioners the sanctuary seats 636; under the city’s uniform development code (UDC) the minimum parking requirement for a place of worship is one space per four seats (about 160 spaces). He noted the UDC requires a parking-demand study only past a threshold (parking beyond 150% of the minimum) and said industry guidance from the Institute of Transportation Engineers recommends roughly 0.35–0.6 spaces per seat, higher than the city’s current 0.25-per-seat minimum.

Duda also said the church had received a proposal for a traffic-access analysis that would cost roughly $15,000 and take about eight weeks to complete. He asked the commission to consider clearer rules for what a parking- or traffic-study must include and to treat the previously installed curb cut and median removal as evidence that the city’s earlier work addressed access impacts.

Mayor (speaker 10) responded that the UDC currently lacks clear triggers for when to require a parking demand or traffic access study and said staff should prepare clearer parameters. “Clear parameters around what triggers traffic access study, parking demand study ... will be a project for the months ahead,” the mayor said.

The commission did not vote on any change; the matter will return to staff follow-up and the formal review process before any action at a future meeting.