A Reading church has plans to build on land once part of Reading’s last working farm.
The city’s zoning board last week heard the appeal of Holy Trinity Church of God, 130 W. Buttonwood St., for construction of a 275-seat church at 1541 Montgomery St.
The congregation needs variances from provisions limiting development on the sloping land and in the residential zone at the far northwestern edge of the city.
The more than 6-acre parcel gently slopes toward the Tulpehocken Creek and is bounded by Bern Township, Lackawanna Street, an apartment complex and Berks County park land.
The Union Canal Towpath Trail runs just yards from the now-unused steps that lead to the front door of an old stone farmhouse on the premises.
An associated barn, one of the last in the city, was destroyed by fire in December 2011.
The isolated property with its view across the creek to the restored Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead, 1700 Tulpehocken Road, Wyomissing, gives the illusion of a step back in time, said George M. Meiser IX, local historian and co-author of “The Passing Scene” book series.
The pocket of open space is one of the last reminders that the now-densely developed neighborhood of apartment buildings and industrial sites was once a farming community.
The land once belonged to members of the Kissinger family, Meiser said. Worked into the 1940s, it was part of the last farm to operate within the city limits.
The former farmhouse has an 1867 datestone indicating it was built for Henry G. and Angeline Kissinger.
“The extended Kissinger family included boatmen and lock tenders on both the Union and Schuylkill canals,” Meiser said.
The Kissingers were very important in the general area around the confluence of the Schuylkill River and Tulpehocken Creek, he said.
Before the Schuylkill Avenue Bridge was built, there was a covered bridge on the same site known as Kissinger’s bridge, Meiser said. The neighborhood was known as Kissinger or Bridgeport, after a hotel of that name, operated by a Kissinger.
The old hotel building still stands on River Road.
Long-term project
The church bought the creekside parcel in the Glenside section of the city in 1985.
Plans call for rehabilitating the existing farmhouse for use as a parsonage or rental unit and maintaining the ruins of a former blacksmith shop on the premises.
“It seemed to some people, they (the buildings) had a historical value,” Gregg A. Bogia, president of Bogia Engineering, 1340 Penn Ave., Wyomissing, said, while testifying on behalf of the church as an expert in planning and traffic engineering on Wednesday. “We are just trying to be good stewards and trying to maintain it.”
That means a variance is needed to permit two primary uses — a church and residence — on the property.
The plan detailed Wednesday was scaled down from a prior proposal for a facility to accommodate 800 after a previous appeal for that facility was denied in October 2020.
New places of worship accommodating 300 or fewer only are permitted in the zone.
The revised plan addresses previous hurdles, such as increased traffic in the neighborhood, Bogia said.
He also noted a traffic study concluded ingress and egress to the church parking lot will not negatively impact area intersections and roads, a previous sticking point for the board. Further, he said, there will be no access to Bern Township roads from the parking lot.
Although stormwater is not the board’s concern, attorney Mark H. Koch, who represented the church, said the applicant will comply with all the requirements of the city, county and state regarding stormwater planning and management.
“Holy Trinity is really trying to work with the governing bodies to make a plan that works,” Bogia said.
The church is as steeped in local history as the property it hopes to make its new home.
The Rev. Robert E. Brookins, pastor, said Holy Trinity was founded in the 1940s as a break-off from a parent congregation that dates to 1927.
The church is dedicated to city ministry, he said, calling Reading the congregation’s heartbeat.
“We do not want to leave the city of Reading,” Brookins said. “We are in this city, hopefully, to make it a better place. Our intent is to be good neighbors and to help the city.”
The zoning board has 45 days to render a decision.
Source: Berkshire mont
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