The proposed site of Northside Church in North Albany looked like this on June 23, 2026.
The Benton County Board of Commissioners this morning postponed for one week a decision on whether to allow Northside Christian Church to build a worship center on Powers Avenue in North Albany.
Commissioner Pat Malone said he was inclined to approve the request, but Commissioner Gabe Shepherd had misgivings.
The third commissioner, Nancy Wyse, was absent. Malone said she fell ill Monday night.
The board agreed to continue deliberations on Sept. 8. If a decision is reached then, the county planning staff would have enough time to write findings supporting it by Sept. 18, the deadline for making this land-use decision.
Shepherd read a lengthy statement. The gist of it was that he didn’t believe Powers Avenue could handle the Sunday morning traffic generated by two church services attended by up to 500 people each.
Northside Church, which has been renting Oak Grove Elementary School for its services, wants to build a 28,557-square-foot, two-story multipurpose building on a 19-acre property at 4500 Powers Ave. N.W.
The project includes a 286-space parking lot and a storage building, plus a water tank and related facilities.
The neighborhood is zoned rural-residential, and the zone allows churches as a conditional use. But the Northside project has generated opposition from nearby residents because of its size and perceived likely effect on the neighborhood. (hh)
Is the issue the number of people attending each service (up to 1000 total) or is the issue the number of cars that would be driving on the road (at most 286 since one space must be vacated by one leaving to be filled by another coming in)?
Asking honestly since they own the property and should be able to do as they wish with the property…at least according to the vast majority of people that seem to post to this blog over the years.
The regulars here are all for private property rights, up to the point they don’t like X or Y then it’s “government stop them!”
I absolutely agree. In addition, I believe that these numbers intentionally skewed. I think the actual number is more like 500 SPLIT between the two services.
Then perhaps they should only construct a building that sits 250 max. But, they want to build a 500-seat hall, they must be expecting 500 people at a given time.
Good to see that Commissioner Gabe Shepherd had put some forward looking thought and justification into his decision. I thought it was well explained. Commissioner Pat Malone on the other hand didn’t give any explanation or justification for his decision.
Exactly. Cant even understand half of what Malone says even if he did give a reason. Shepherd actually takes his position seriously and does the work.
malone is out, so he don’t care
The zoning allows churches as a conditional use. Well, there ya go…the owners have the right to build a huge church. It’s the American way. We are the most religious country of any of what is called “the first world” countries. So Powers Ave. residents in North Albany need to get used to the reality of this.
RR2 zoning CONDITIONALLY allows churches. There is no precedent for such an enormous building with so many cars and people in RR2. THAT is a condition that destroys value of nearby residences that are allowed in RR2 without special conditions. The proposed building belongs in a commercial zoned area away from rural residential. I hope Commissioner Wyse is wiser than Malone who is a mumbling, bumbling incompetent who does NOT belong in office. It is fortunate that he lost the primary election. Malone’s flopping around about the landfill is more evidence that he should stay out of public office and grow his christmas trees to avoid embarrassing the people who voted for him and dontated to his campaign. I am one of those fools who did that and I apologize to all Benton County residents for helping to impose Malone on us.
Northside has consistently misstated numbers– From the square footage (18,00 when in fact its nearly 29000) to 500 people total to 1000 people. From having 9 children attend daycare to upwards of 35 children daily. They are dishonest, and disingenuous.
I assumed the commissioners would read the materials separately and then meet together to discuss. The fact that Malone and Shepard were polar opposites tells me they never discussed. Gabe was thoughtful and had details for his decision. Malone was ZERO.
A church is allowed as long as it does not impact the character of the neighborhood. A mega-church absolutely does impact the character of the neighborhood. Their phase one of 29,000 square feet is over three times the size of North Albany church! This is INSAINE!
They are not mentioning it, but their original plan included a phase 2 that would make it TEN TIMES larger that North Albany church..
If you are talking about North Alvany Community Church, it isnt sitting on 19 acres! The building is too small for all the existing ministries, but the lot doesn’t have anymore room to expand.
Apparently, people believe the parking lot will be totally filled for each “event”? Unlikely.
Commissioners would help themselves by making timely decisions and moving on.