NORTH WEBSTER – In a case of what Town Council President Jon Sroufe called deja vu, council approved a road vacation Monday that they turned down four years ago. Council members approved the vacation of a portion of Ward Lane, Harrison Street and an unnamed road all near the North Webster Church of God, which requested the vacations as it plans a building expansion. Jeff Boyer, senior pastor of the church, said he expects many extra people a week at the church once the addition opens, which he said he hopes the community can enjoy as a welcoming hangout. “We don’t want to say we have a nice facility but it’s just for our people,” he said. The church expects its new children’s area and cafe to increase foot traffic between the building and the parking lot on the other side of Ward Lane, a safety concern if traffic is allowed to continue on the road, attorney Steve Snyder told council. “The factors here are safety vs. minor inconvenience,” said Snyder, who said the loss of the one-way northbound route wouldn’t make access to Ward Lane residences north of the church any less convenient. “The balance of that, I think, is key.” Boyer said there haven’t been any pedestrian accidents yet, but there have been close calls. “I would say it’s a matter of time, but that’s my opinion.” But Ward Lane is heavily used for an alley, town Police Chief Greg Church observed, and town police and fire use it as an emergency route. Church also remarked that the church could have done something to alleviate its safety concerns years ago. Speaking in remonstrance, Ward Lane resident Jay Rigdon agreed that the church could have done more about its safety concerns. He added that traffic is only heavy during church times and special events, and said Snyder was downplaying the inconvenience to neighborhood residents. “A neighborhood is larger than one block,” Rigdon said. “I don’t think there’s any question, when you cut a street in half, that’s a big inconvenience.” Sroufe observed during the hour of discussion that council has shied away from vacating things in the past, and said he understood the inconvenience to residences and emergency services. He added that he thinks it’s a great thing that the church is expanding. Council members indicated that they had no objection to the Harrison Street and unnamed road vacations, and approved those seperately before approving Sroufe’s motion at the end of the meeting to vacate Ward Lane. “Sometimes you’re in a position where whatever you do, it doesn’t make everybody happy,” Sroufe said before his motion to vacate Ward Lane.
