By Janet Perez | Daily Independent
The Paradise Valley Town Council has approved three motions allowing the owners of the land where the Ascension Lutheran Church once stood to create a four-home residential development.
At its Oct. 24 meeting following a public hearing, the council unanimously approved a minor general plan amendment designating a more than five-acre property at 7100 N. Mockingbird Lane from public/quasi-public to low-density residential; rezoning the property from special use permit-religious facility to single-family residential district; and the final plat creating four single-family residential lots ranging in size from 1.059 acres to 1.534 acres.
During its Sept. 3 meeting, the Paradise Valley Planning Commission recommended that the council approve the measures.
CHM Holding, which purchased the property from Ascension Lutheran Church in July 2023 for $11 million, will build one single-family home on each of four lots.
“Construction will be staggered by a few months and start with Lot 1 and progress to Lot 4. The homes will take approximately 22 months each to construct,” according to a staff report. “All construction parking will be located on the property as much as possible, but there are times when construction parking will occur on the adjoining local public streets of Hummingbird Lane and Meadowlark Lane.”
The purchase and development plans sparked intense interest in the community due to the architecture of the church, including its spire, having been designed by William Wesley Peters of the Taliesin Associated Architects of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The church was built in 1963.
On Aug. 28, the church’s spire was removed and transferred to the town for storage. The church was demolished in September.
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