After the Sumner City Council decided to approve the first phase of an expansion project for Calvary Community Church, the church is exercising its right to appeal.

The council approved Phase I after it determined the full project’s size, scope and scale was incompatible with neighboring uses in a low-density residential zone and the hearing examiner’s decision was not correct.

The traffic impact analysis for the church was determined by council to be incorrect and inconclusive because the study was based on church use only and did not include the use of other structures at the grounds, among them an education center.

Jack McCullogh, the attorney representing the church, addressed the city council at the Jan. 18 meeting and said the usage limit put in place by the decision, limiting accessory units to 3,000 square feet, put an overbearing limit to church outreach programs.

“It is going to really impede the ability of your religious institutions,” McCullogh said.

At a previous council meeting, the council instructed Brett Vinson, the city attorney of Sumner, to create a findings of fact analysis of their decision to approve phase one.

A required public hearing on the matter took place prior to adoption of the ordinance pertaining to interim development regulations of the Sumner Municipal Code. The interim regulations address accessory uses and conditional uses in low-density residential zones.