Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka

What is the Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka (UUCM)?

Our historic church building, designed in 1916 by famed architect Harry Wild Jones.

UUCM is a vibrant congregation rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition. We come from many religious backgrounds and are an inclusive faith, welcoming people regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities or affectional orientation. We share a commitment to community service, justice, equality, the democratic process and a world at peace. We are committed to being a voice for these values in the west metro area.

UUCM became part of the Wayzata community in 1965. The small congregation that started in Minnetonka in 1960 seized on the opportunity to move to a beautiful old building on a wonderful site in Wayzata. UUCM prides itself on its commitment and contributions to the Wayzata community. UUCM was a founding partner of Interfaith Outreach Community Partners and volunteers from the congregation continue to support it and many other worthy local causes with their time and money.

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For more information about the Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka Click here

For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

Why has UUCM chosen to relocate here?

After years of searching, the Relocation Task Force has located a property near the junction of Highways 394 and 494, the geographic center of our member population.

As illustrated below, members come from as far west as Buffalo, as far north as Champlin, as far East as St. Louis Park and far south as Shakopee. In order to keep our congregation together we cannot move far from our current location. If the church were forced to move any significant distance from this area many of our members would be seriously disadvantaged in their ability to practice their religious faith.

The Yellow Stick Pin represents the 2030 Wayzata Blvd East location

The Red Star represents the Current location of UUCM

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

Why is this an excellent location for a church building?

• As seen above, the site is located on the frontage road of a major expressway across from large car dealerships and office buildings. The church will buffer the Holdridge neighborhood from the light and sound pollution.
• A beautiful church on this site will be an attractive feature welcoming people traveling along Highway 394 to the Wayzata community.
• Having a single building on this site will preserve many more trees than if the property were subdivided and multiple homes were built.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

What benefits will UUCM bring to the Holdridge neighborhood?

Every member of UUCM wants to be a good neighbor to the other residents in the Holdridge community. Our church would provide the following benefits:

• Our social space and industrial kitchen may be rented by neighbors for graduations, wedding anniversaries, birthdays and other events.
• Residents will be welcome to use the meditative labyrinth we’ve planned as part of our church space.
• Neighbors will be welcome at UUCM-sponsored concerts’ from classical to folk, poetry readings and amateur theatrical productions.
• Our art gallery space showcasing the work of local artists will be open to residents.
• UUCM hopes to develop a walking trail through the property which would be open to use by the neighborhood residents.
• UUCM’s members and youth are committed to serving our community through local agencies such as IOCP as well as through community service, such as raking and shoveling for those in need of help.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

Do churches fit in residential neighborhoods?

Yes. Churches are natural and traditional in residential neighborhoods and are recognized as positive catalysts, which is why so many communities zone churches into residential areas with a conditional use permit.

Edina, Excelsior, Minnetonka, Long Lake, Plymouth, Medina and Orono all site churches in residential areas. Indeed, all churches in Wayzata, while zoned institutional, are immediately adjacent to beautiful residential areas. The architects working with UUCM have been very sensitive to the residential nature of the Holdridge area and have designed a building that complements the scale and character of the homes in the area.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

What impact do churches have on property values in a neighborhood?

There is no evidence that churches have a negative affect on property values. Consider the following:

• The Wayzata City Assessor has said that a church at this site will not affect property values.
• City Assessors from Minnetonka and St. Louis Park said they never have never seen a church have a negative affect on residential property values.
• The City Assessor of Excelsior stated he has never seen the presence of a church affect property values one way or another. Anecdotally, he stated that he has seen a positive impact on neighborhoods in terms of safety and community building.
• The City Assessor of Orono said churches have less impact on neighborhoods than a commercial project does.
• In a study done LOCUS Architects of property values in relation to distance from a church property they found that churches have a negligible affect on property values. In the Holdridge neighborhood what does affect property values is a property’s distance from Highway 394. Home values increase by 215% as they move further away from the highway!

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

Will rezoning this site cause more development along the frontage road?

There is no reason to believe that rezoning to allow a church will encourage more development on the frontage road. As with UUCM’s request, any request for rezoning property along the frontage road would be subject to the same process of review by Wayzata’s Planning Commission and City Council. The Holdridge neighborhood would be informed and their input would be requested.

The church will be a strong presence along the frontage road reaffirming the residential nature of the area and stabilizing the residential character of the neighborhood.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

How close will the church be to the adjacent properties?

There is a distance of over two football fields between the church building and neighboring homes.

One of the beauties of this site for a church is that the property is extremely deep, with trees and wetlands providing a good buffer from the immediate abutting properties. With the wetlands area bordering the south and west edges of the property the church will never expand on this site and the beautiful natural buffer of trees and wetlands will be preserved.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

How will traffic in the Holdridge neighborhood be affected?

Traffic studies by Spack Consulting and SRF Consulting.

UUCM will not create traffic problems for the neighborhood. Two traffic studies done by separate traffic experts show that there will be no traffic problems created by a church with 80 parking spaces at this location. The access to the church will be on the frontage road and church traffic will not use residential streets in either east or west Holdridge.

One commonly used database shows that most churches experience a ratio of 0.16 cars per seat in the sanctuary on any given Sunday. That means there would be an average of 40 parking spaces used per Sunday - less impact than shown in the diagram below which assumes 60 to 80 cars per Sunday.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

Will the church cause light pollution?

No. In fact, there is already considerable light pollution at this site. Light pollution on the property from the businesses across the highway is so intense that the church may not even need to light it’s parking lot!

The pictures shown here were taken at the property after dark. It is more likely that the church building will buffer the homes in the Holdridge neighborhood from the lights and noise of the highway than be the cause of either light or noise pollution.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

How will the new church affect local water supply?

The well that is now on the property has been checked and found to be adequate for the new building. As shown here, the church uses very little water and will not cause any capacity problems for the wells of its neighbors.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

How is environmental stewardship addressed?

UUCM places a high value on being a good steward of the environment. Five years ago UUCM completed the work needed to become designated a “green sanctuary”. Our architects, LOCUS Architecture, promote the sale and use of local building materials, employ energy and resource efficient design strategies and actively practice “green” architecture.

Their work for the Unitarian Universalist Church of White Bear Lake recently won a national “Faith and Form” magazine Merit Award for their environmentally friendly sanctuary.

This diagram shows that tree coverage on the site would be respected and additional trees would be planted as a visual buffer to the west.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

What will happen if UUCM outgrows this space?

Our new church will have double the capacity of our current building and our studies show it should serve us for at least 50 years. If UUCM grows to exceed its 240 seat sanctuary capacity, it will “seed” another church probably to the west or northwest. The church will never expand on this site due to restrictions placed on the protected wetlands on the property.

UUCM cannot seed a congregation at this time because at 200 members we are not large enough to support ministers at two locations.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

What will the new church look like?

The diagram above shows the elevations of the proposed building with the elevation of the house immediately to the west shown for comparison. The building was designed with a residential feel to fit comfortably within the community.

This preliminary sketch shows the view from the southwest and the northwest.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

Who are the architects for this project?

LOCUS Architecture. LOCUS’ clients are mainly homeowners and religious communities who are committed to sustainable principles at every level of design, from master planning to the most intricate detail.

For more information about LOCUS Architecture please visit their website: Link to LOCUS Architecture website.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

Why can’t UUCM simply expand on its existing site?

Our church on “Piety Hill” and our santuary.

Our current 605 Rice Street property is only ¼ acre and is considered a “non-conforming property” by the City of Wayzata whose zoning ordinances require that churches be on a minimum of 3 acres. Even if UUCM acquired the two neighboring homes, the site would still not be large enough.

Remodeling the current building is not an option because the building would remain too small, inaccessible to the handicapped, too costly and inefficient to maintain and the lack of adequate parking spaces would continue to be a problem.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.

What will happen to UUCM’s current building?

Members of UUCM recognize that our building at 605 Rice Street is treasured by many in the community for its historic significance to Wayzata.

The Relocation Task Force has had conversations with the Wayzata Heritage Preservation Board which shares our interest in finding a buyer for the church that will have the passion and financial resources to preserve the building and find a new use for it while maintaining its exterior appearance.

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For more information about our new church home, contact Christy Dachelet, Chair, UUCM Relocation Task Force.