De Pere council approves Life Church move

• The Packers' Randall Cobb, James Jones and Ty Montgomery spoke in support of Life Church.
• Life Church leaders hope to have their new site remodeled and open by Easter Sunday in late March.

DE PERE – It’s back to the city for a larger Life Church.

To the excitement of an overflow crowd, the De Pere City Council went against a staff recommendation and narrowly approved a zoning change for a highway parcel restricted to commercial development late Tuesday night.

The 5-3 ruling paves the way for the relocation of the heavily attended Life Church from the town of Lawrence to the other side of Interstate 41.

The nondenominational Christian church will occupy the former Sportsman’s Warehouse facility, which has sat empty for six years and will provide more room for the growing church.

“I’m pleasantly surprised … thrilled, I guess, would be the word,” Shawn Hennessy, the church’s lead pastor, said about the outcome. “And, thrilled with our people, who really came out and just talked about their love for the city.”

A few hundred people packed the De Pere City Hall council chambers as well as nearby conference rooms that had a televised simulcast of the meeting, which included a lengthy public hearing on the hot-button issue.

After nearly three hours of comments from about 40 church supporters, including a trio of Green Bay Packers, the council made its decision.

“Just hearing from our residents in De Pere, I think we need this in De Pere,” Alderman Scott Crevier said before the vote was taken.

The tally yielded big applause and louder cheers in the meeting room, followed by high-fives and hugs as dozens of people exited as the meeting continued.

Crevier, Kevin Bauer, Mike Donovan, Larry Lueck and Lisa Rafferty voted to amend a 13-year-old zoning ordinance that greatly restricted what type of development at the site of the vacant store building at 1551 Lawrence Drive, next to Walmart.

Mayor Mike Walsh said he was against rezoning the property. His vote would have been needed to break a tie by the eight-person panel.

"To me, this has nothing to do with Life Church going in there. In fact, I'd probably show up on Sunday," Walsh said. "If it was a different non-permitted use (at the site), I'd feel the same way. It's entirely about zoning.

"This is a very tough decision," he added. "But, I have to look at the big picture, based on the facts, the vision of the city and the recommendations that are given by the professionals that are on our staff."

Life Church had outgrown its current venue in Lawrence since moving there in July 2014. A much smaller congregation previously met at a church on De Pere’s southwest side.

Attendance has soared to more than 1,500 for Sunday morning services at the old SC Grand Banquet and Convention Center on the west side of 41.

Rather than pour as much as $6 million into upgrades at the previously renovated building, church leaders targeted the Sportsman’s Warehouse site about a mile away. They purchased the abandoned facility for less than $2 million in October.

Having gained city approval, Hennessy said the goal is to have interior renovations completed at the new location for the church to hold its first services Easter Sunday in late March 2016.

Hennessy said he finalized a verbal agreement for the sale of the current church building at 1250 Mid Valley Drive to a local buyer shortly before Tuesday night's council meeting.

"We can actually move forward," said Sonny Hennessy, Shawn's wife and the executive pastor and marketing director for Life Church. "We're grateful. We're grateful to De Pere, and we're so glad this went positive."

On the recommendation of the city’s planning staff, the Plan Commission on Nov. 30 voted 4-1 against amending the Precise Implementation Plan put in place in 2002 for the highway corridor bordered by the interstate and Scheuring Road.

Noncommercial uses such as a community center, a meeting hall or a place of worship weren’t permitted in that area.

Packers wide receivers Randall Cobb, James Jones and Ty Montgomery joined several others who voiced their support for the church relocation at the city council meeting Tuesday.

“One of the reasons I’m up here right now (talking) is because I’ve come to De Pere because I love this church and the value that this church has in my life and the impact that it’s made on my life in the short amount of time that I’ve been here,” said Montgomery, a rookie player.

Jones, a De Pere resident who returned to the Packers before this season after a year away, said Life Church is “changing people’s lives.”

Church attendees come from as far as Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Milwaukee and even Chicago.

“Whether you’re old or whether you’re young, if you come in that building, your life is going to be changed,” Jones said. “When we came back (to Green Bay), my wife (said) we’ve got to move back to De Pere because I want to go to Life Church.”

Several others who spoke during the comment period of the public hearing made emotional pleas to the council to lift the restriction on commercial use for the abandoned site.

"The city of De Pere and Life Church can be great partners," said De Pere resident Dana Holtzheimer, a church member. "This is the start of something awesome for our community and our culture."

tmcmaho2@greenbay.gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ToddMcMahon23