City grants CUP to Methodist Church

The Boulder City United Methodist Church cleared a major hurdle last week in its desire to build a church of its own; something it’s wished to do for two decades.

By a unanimous vote last Wednesday, the Boulder City Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit (CUP) request from the church to build on three acres of land it owns adjacent to the Boulder City Cemetery.

With a CUP, anyone who spoke at the meeting or submitted written comments can appeal, in a timely manner, the commission’s decision to the Boulder City Council. If no appeals are filed, the church may proceed with their building permit application process. No further action by the commission or the council is required.

“We are incredibly grateful and excited that the planning commission has approved our Conditional Use Permit and that we can now move forward with plans to build our church,” BCUMC lead pastor Kimber Govett said the next day in an email to the Review.

In recent years, the church has been holding its services and special events in the Elaine K. Smith Building.

“Boulder City United Methodist Church has served this community for many years, and we look forward to finally building a traditional church on the property that was purchased for this purpose,” Govett wrote. “We are thankful to everyone who has supported and encouraged us along the way, and we look forward to being a good neighbor and continuing to serve the Boulder City community. We are excited about what the future holds.”

In a report and presentation by city planner Loren Keeton, BCUMC is proposing an approximately 7,200-square-foot church on the property located at 1400 Utah St. The proposed development includes the church building, off-street parking, pedestrian walkways, landscaping, drainage improvements, lighting, utility connections and necessary infrastructure and improvements to serve the congregation. The subject property is currently undeveloped and zoned R1-80.

With any CUP that’s granted, an applicant has two years to begin construction on the proposed project. If that does not occur, a new CUP request must be submitted.

Twenty years ago, the city sold the property to the BCUMC for $195,000 for the purpose of constructing a church. The sales agreement placed a use restriction on the property, which states that it “shall be used, kept and maintained as a place of divine worship of the United Methodist ministry and members of the United Methodist Church.” The Planning Commission approved a CUP in 2009 for the development of a church on the site. However, due to economic factors, the project never got off the ground.

In 2024, the church submitted land entitlement applications for a Master Plan Amendment and Zoning Map Amendment to build senior housing (50 units) in conjunction with the development of a church and event space. In July of that year, the Planning Commission recommended, by a 6-1 vote, denial of the plan, which was subsequently withdrawn by the church. That vote came after nearly four hours of discussion with Matt Di Teresa being the lone commissioner in favor of the request.

During last week’s meeting, there was public pushback from some in the audience and by way of email. A few said they do not oppose a church but they cited an increase in traffic, devaluation of property for nearby homes, view obstructions, and others questioned the church’s funding abilities. Others said the renderings looked like a warehouse based on its appearance and size. And since the church had requested to have affordable senior housing two years ago, one speaker suggested there may be ulterior uses for the building while another said he felt the church was looking to turn the property “into something they can make money with.”

Some of these concerns were addressed by the commission.

“With respect to the design of the church, there are no design standards for hotels, motels, churches or whatever – it’s not our job to determine if we don’t like the design, to deny the request,” Chairwoman Lorene Krumm said. “That’s not even an appropriate action we would take.”

Krumm said the commission’s job is to determine if the church is an appropriate use for the property. She added the request made two years ago “is not even related to what’s going on now. It’s a completely different item and circumstance.”

Following up on what Krumm said, Commissioner Steve Morris said it’s not their duty to consider what happened in the past but rather what’s before them now.

“Some of the comments, personally, made me feel very uncomfortable because I think it’s teetering on an infringement on constitutional protections,” said Morris, who is an attorney. “Getting into the business if they’re financially stable or not, that’s their business. Does someone get into our business as to whether we can afford the home we’re trying to build and get the permits for them? They have those same constitutional guarantees that we have as individuals.”