MILTON, Wash — Change is coming to a small neighborhood in Milton.
Earlier this week, work began to clear out space for a megachurch along Taylor Street.
The Salvation Slavic Baptist Church applied to build the church in April 2019. Plans for the church include a 92,000-square-foot sanctuary, a 7,500-square-foot gym, and a school building with 26 classrooms. The plan also includes 546 parking spots.
But many residents say this change is not welcome.
Chris Phillips says she was against the project since it was announced, but could only watch as dozens of trees were torn out to make room for the megachurch this week. Phillips says the neighborhood simply can’t support something this big.
“We really feel that the city has let us down,” she said. “Their traffic report showed how much traffic this was going to bring to the community, and it was way too big. It’s the size of the Safeway store out on Meridian and the size of the parking lot in front of the Safeway store. That is not appropriate in a single-family zone!”
Cheryl Reid-Simons lives across from the future church site, and she says the land could be put to better use by serving a vital need for Milton.
“Because this was zoned for single-family residential, this church going in is taking out a huge chunk of the available land in this area to build housing,” Reid-Simons said.
Now Reid-Simons says she has to say goodbye to her neighbors as they move out of the area, and is starting to wonder if her family is next to leave.
“My wife and I were talking about this last night, we had thought that this was our forever home, but we’re not so sure anymore,” she admits. “We’re going to keep an eye out on the lake level and how traffic goes, but…it’s tough.”
KING 5 reached out to Milton’s city leadership and Mayor Shanna Sherrell and is still waiting to hear back.