Plans for new Elevation Church in Rock Hill get approval

Plans for a new campus of Elevation Church in Rock Hill’s Riverwalk development moved forward this week, after the Rock Hill Planning Commission approved site plans for the new house of worship.

The commission approved plans, including architectural renderings of the new church, at its Monday meeting.

But while the layout of the 34,000-square-foot campus on the corner of Eden Terrace and Celriver Road, including 700 parking spaces, has been cleared, the church will still need to submit a more detailed civil construction plan before work can begin.

The church’s main auditorium is slated to hold 1,018 seats. In an area that currently doesn’t have any sidewalks, the developer included pedestrian walkways to be installed on both Celriver and Eden Terrace, with access for worshipers walking from an adjoining single-family neighborhood to the south.

Planners gave approval to the project without any substantive changes. The plans were submitted by Greens of Rock Hill, developer of the Riverwalk community.

Greens of Rock Hill will have to go back to the city planning staff for approval of a civil plan, including details on landscaping, utility placement, stormwater and erosion control.

In October, the City Council made changes to the Riverwalk development, adding – at the developer’s request – religious institutions as an allowable use on certain parts of the more-than-1,000-acre site. Council members were told churches will only be allowed to locate in Riverwalk in areas not be too close to restaurants or businesses selling beer, wine or liquor.

A grocery store is planned for the area, on Cherry Road, and other businesses, including Grapevine – a Fort Mill-based wine and beer bar – are slated for the community’s “river district.”

Riverwalk, near Cherry Road and Interstate 77, is home to the Rock Hill Outdoor Center operated by the city of Rock Hill. There, facilities open to the public include a BMX Supercross track, a cycling velodrome, walking and biking trails and a kayak launch on the Catawba River.

Elevation Church currently holds weekly services at Sullivan Middle School on Cherry Road in Rock Hill. Elevation has 13 locations, according to its website. Those include four in Charlotte and two in Matthews, N.C. The Charlotte Observer has reported Elevation has more than 17,000 worshipers across its locations.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Plans for new Elevation Church in Rock Hill get approval."