Mandeville Catholic church seeks new trial in legal struggle with city ...

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church has filed a motion for a new trial in its lengthy legal battle with local government?over construction of new place of worship in old Mandeville. The motion stems from a ruling earlier this month by state District Judge William Crain in St. Tammany Parish that essentially upheld the Mandeville Zoning Board's denial of the church's request for a permit to build a $13 million sanctuary across Lafitte Street from the existing OLL chapel. It seeks a new trial or reconsideration of Crain's ruling.

In the motion, attorneys for OLL argue that the court's Oct. 10 judgment upholds the zoning board's denial of a permit to build the church on the basis that the project did not meet minimum parking requirements. While it denied the permit, the motion states the Zoning Board "never determined that OLL's application showed insufficient parking." Therefore, the court went beyond its review authority and "supplied a new reason to deny OLL's permit -- one that was not part of the record and therefore not properly before this court."

OLL attorneys referred questions on the motion to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Sarah McDonald, spokesperson for the archdiocese, said the motion filed Monday is a step in the legal process. "The parish (OLL) is continuing to explore the options and this motion is part of that process," she said.

The archdiocese and Archbishop Gregory Aymond support OLL in its efforts to build "a church that can accommodate its parishioners," McDonald said.

The church project has been a lightning rod of controversy in the old Mandeville community. Opponents fear the new, 16,715-square-foot 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 weekend Masses, which forces OLL to use a multi-purpose building that houses a gymnasium for some services. The proposed new church would have 1,028 seats.

Source: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/mandeville_catholic_church_see.html

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