Union Corridor neighbors are gearing up for another fight over College Church's parking lot plan, even after the church trimmed its proposal from 70 spaces to 53.

The Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Wheaton City Hall, 303 W. Wesley St., to consider the revised request. Residents who want to speak can attend in person.

College Church, at 332 E. Seminary Ave., wants to build the lot on the northeast corner of Seminary Avenue and Scott Street. The site previously held a single-family home and multi-unit buildings, all demolished in spring 2026 to make way for the project.

What changed

The church originally proposed 70 spaces with 17 ADA-accessible spots. After a public hearing that opened Tuesday, June 23, and was continued to Tuesday, July 28, the church came back with a smaller footprint: 53 spaces and at least five ADA spots. City staff determined the revisions were significant enough to require a fresh public hearing, according to a staff report prepared for Chair Aranas and the board.

As we reported July 28, the board closed the original hearing and scheduled the new one for Aug. 11.

The rezoning ask

The parcels along Seminary Avenue are currently zoned R4 residential. College Church is requesting they be rezoned to I-1, an institutional classification. The church is also seeking a variance to reduce the lot's pavement setbacks from the required 15 feet down to five feet.

That's the sticking point.

Neighborhood pushback

Residents in the Union Corridor neighborhood have argued that converting residential land to institutional use is inappropriate and that the parking lot will diminish their property values, according to Patch. No individual residents have been quoted on the record in available documents, but the opposition has been consistent since the June 23 hearing.

The scaled-back proposal did not appear to quiet the concerns. The reduction from 70 to 53 spaces still requires the same rezoning and the same variance, leaving the core objections intact.