Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Mandeville,
which has been embroiled in a long battle with the city over
construction of a larger place of worship, has resubmitted construction
plans that scale back the number of seats in the sanctuary but keeps the
same architectural style and amount of square footage as the original
proposal. The retooled plan was submitted to the city's Planning and Zoning Department late Friday and Mayor Donald Villere said Monday the proposal will be fully vetted by the city early next year.
Original plans called for a new 16,715-square-foot church across Lafitte Street from the existing church to seat 1,028 people. Sarah McDonald, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said Monday the new plan calls for 850-900 seats.
Plans for the new church were first announced to parishioners by former pastor the Rev. John Talamo during Easter Masses in 2010.
Since then, the church has been involved in a divisive struggle with the Old Mandeville community and the city's Planning and Zoning Commission that eventually led to an Oct. 10 decision by state court Judge William Crain to uphold the commission's denial of a building permit on the basis that the project did not meet minimum parking requirements.
McDonald said that while the church's architecture and square footage remain the same under the new proposal, Archbishop Gregory Aymond and church planners are "open to dialog and are willing to make changes as necessary to address the concerns of the Planning and Zoning Commission."
Villere said the application and public hearing process for the new church proposal will likely begin in January. "I'm not sure where they're going with this, but we'll go through the process."
City Councilman Ernest Burguieres, whose district includes the church, said he hasn't had a chance to look at the new plan in depth, but "it looks like basically the same proposal to me."
The church project has been a lightning rod of controversy in the old Mandeville community. Opponents fear the new Gothic Revival church would cause drainage, traffic and parking problems in the lakefront community and would not fit in with surrounding buildings.
Supporters said the existing 465-seat church is way too small to accommodate crowds that attend popular weekend Masses and for some school functions.
For some Masses, OLL is forced to use a multi-purpose building that houses a gymnasium, where those church goers who are able to do so kneel on the basketball court while praying.
Our Lady of the Lake, located three blocks from Lake Pontchartrain, is the largest Catholic parish in the local archdiocese, with nearly 3,000 registered families in the congregation, according to church officials.
The church has been part of the lakefront community for 160 years.
An adjoining Catholic School is also part of the Lafitte Street campus.