Master Plan

Master Plan Phase I: Additional Parking Summary

First United Methodist Church Cary
Building/Finance Subcommittee

Analysis and Report
Master Plan Phase I: Proposed Waldo Street Parking Project
March 31, 2008

Our Church has experienced dynamic growth over the past twenty years. However, that growth has created pressing needs for facilities to accommodate our congregation. We have attended to those needs through improvements in our Sanctuary, our classrooms, our administrative offices and our fellowship areas. However, we have not provided even marginally adequate parking for a church of our size and mission. Fortunately, we have had neighbors who graciously and generously let us use their parking lots at no cost even at times where our presence interfered with their businesses.

Our Church made the decision many years ago to stay in our downtown location. As part of our strategic long term plans, we acquired properties adjacent to us with the goal of using them for our future space and parking needs. At this time we own all of the property on the south side of Waldo Street from the Ashworth Village lot down the hill to the corner of Walker Street.

In the near future, the Town of Cary plans to make major changes to the Downtown area including changes to Waldo Street. In addition there are public and private development initiatives throughout the area around the Church that could have a significant impact upon our parking.

In every survey of the congregation over many years, one of the most requested Church improvements has been improved parking in the number of spaces and their proximity to the Church. Our lack of reliable parking creates a hardship for many Members who have mobility challenges or who must manage small children. Inclement weather makes our problem even more severe.

Land use and architecture literature on church parking needs suggest that a viable church with no public transportation needs about 1.7 parking spaces per member family. The Best Practice recommendations are that the number above represents 80% of the parking spaces in place to accommodate visitors and growth. We have almost no spaces completely under our control.

In recognition of these conditions and potential future threats to our existing parking and at the direction of FUMCC membership, the Building Committee has moved forward to determine the best solution for our situation. They have determined that we should construct approximately 200 parking spaces on our properties along the south side of Waldo Street. They also have developed construction plans including good estimated cost budgets.

After an analysis of those findings and consideration of a number of current conditions, the Building Committee has recommended that we do construct a parking lot and that we begin as soon as possible. The Building Committee has consulted with the Finance Committee to determine an appropriate financing plan for the project. The Building and Finance Committees have formed a sub-committee to create and recommend a financing plan subject to a number of conditions related the final construction budget and project approvals by both the District and a church conference.

Why Now?

Cost Savings Opportunities
The proposed Town of Cary construction on Waldo provides problems and opportunities. All of our construction advisors tell us that a coordination of our project with the Town’s work will save us significant money and greatly reduce the negative impacts of construction on our Church operations.

The national real estate recession has caused a softening of some construction pricing. By contracting now before the summer peak, we can secure better pricing than at a later time. Asphalt prices are very oil price related. Expectations for the price of oil over the next 3 to 4 years are continuing severe increases. We believe that action today will save us significantly in real dollars.

There are cultural and societal changes in our country’s view of churches. For most of the past, it was not difficult to zone, build and remodel a church. Everyone was for a project that would provide a beautiful building and grounds. That is no longer the case even in our area. Some people see urban churches as creating traffic problems, hogging otherwise high property tax space and, in some cases, as competition with their church.

The Church has submitted a site plan to the Town of Cary and it has been approved. The good news is that process is done. However, site plan approvals have time limits. If we let the current approval expire, we may not have such an easy time on the next attempt which would probably raise the cost to complete the project by changing its design or limiting the practical amount of parking.

Regardless of how we proceed, there will be a temporary need for construction financing. We have some of the lowest interest costs in the past 30 years at the current time. We can take advantage of those rates to keep our construction costs down. And, if we provide for financing to be a contingency for a longer payout, the rate locks would provide even more savings.

To Address a Threat to our Long Term Health

The Congregation has requested this project for decades. Our Trustees have slowly assembled attractive tracts for this project over many years with the Church investing quite a bit of money in the land. The process to date was very wise because the current cost of land in the area is prohibitive and increasing.

Many studies have shown that churches that do not keep up with parking demands lower their growth and begin a slow process where they shrink. We have to provide for this need to keep our Church viable.

The potential loss of members in the future, as well as the current loss of revenue due to parking issues in bad weather, also can/does hurt our ability to finance our Christian missions and fellowship. While not very visible at the current time, the threat is certain if we fail to meet this need over the next few years.

We can use this project to start interest in numerous other low or no cost projects to deal with visitors, provide better access to those needing assistance, to set up environmentally responsible programs such as car pools, to create remote parking to support our core, etc.

Doesn’t This Project Take Funds Away From Missions And Worship Needs?

No, it does not. The earliest references to giving to God in the Bible are for purposes to build a structure to serve Him and to serve as a gathering place for His People. One of the first acts after the Exodus was to provide for a proper building to worship.

There are many today who feel that the Church should shun
material facilities so that funds can go to do more mission work and to the needs of the community. While those are among the utmost goals of our Church, we also must recognize that the Church has to be healthy to do those things. Paul pointed out on numerous occasions that the Church as a physical place was highly important too and that its survival depended upon that maintenance of the physical as well as the spiritual.

The Building Committee’s recommended Plan does not put a strain on the current Church Budget. If longer term fundraising goals are not met, the Plan provides for ways to provide for this asset that are consistent with the operating budget goals of our Congregation.

By acting now, we actually provide a better worship experience for more people which results in more voluntary giving to our missions and other spiritual projects. We also provide an ability to better prepare for our current worship experience by avoiding some of the long hikes, the mad dashes and similar problems that often put us in a less than holy frame of mind when we enter the Sanctuary. Of clear and current importance, since we must build parking one day, the potential for savings present now that would not be available later, means more funds in the longer run that can be used missions, etc.

The construction offers some opportunities for members to contribute special gifts that we might not otherwise receive. Several of our long-time members have come forward to say that they would like to help underwrite a parking project with some significant gifts. They want to see the Church remain vibrant and see this as an opportunity to help.

Doesn’t This Project Come at a Bad Time Given the Recent Capital Campaign? Does This Project Put Us Back in Debt When Many Gave to Reduce Debt?

The Building Committee Plan strongly considers the diverse thoughts of the entire Congregation. There will be efforts and controls to make sure the actions on this project do not conflict with the goals of those giving to the Capital Campaign.

Although initial financing plans focused on raising funds prior to starting construction, circumstances have changed, resulting in an opportunity to reevaluate those initial plans. We have members who are very experienced in construction and finance who have advised us that we would waste a great deal of money to try to chase this goal by raising all of the cash up front. The Building Committee, in consultation with the Finance Committee, is committed to keeping the approach consistent with the past communications to the Congregation about this project while working within the practical reality of construction.