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Argued September 15, 2005; decided October 20, 2005
Matter of Pine Knolls Alliance Church v Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Town of Moreau, 14 AD3d 863, reversed.
{**5 NY3d at 409} OPINION OF THE COURT
Graffeo, J.
In Cornell Univ. v Bagnardi (68 NY2d 583, 589 [1986]), our task was to determine how best to balance the needs and rights of educational and religious institutions seeking to expand their facilities in residential neighborhoods against the concerns of local [*2]residents who might be harmed or inconvenienced by the proposed construction projects. We approved the special permit application process as an effective means of addressing expansion requests but we annulled the two zoning determinations under review because the zoning officials in both cases had impermissibly required the colleges that sought special permits to prove their need to expand. In this case, we are asked to apply our decision in Cornell University to a controversy between a church and a zoning board of appeals.
I.
Since 1974, petitioner Pine Knolls Alliance Church has operated a place of worship on a 5.78 acre parcel of property in a residential district on Route 32 in the Town of Moreau, Saratoga
County, pursuant to a special use permit issued by the Town. After purchasing an adjoining 14.3 acres, the Church applied to respondent Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) in November 2002 for a modification of its existing special use permit to implement an expansion plan. The Church proposed the construction of a 9,970 square foot addition to its 10,075 square foot main church, a 2,120 square foot addition to its 6,040 square foot youth building, a new 3,780 square foot building for{**5 NY3d at 410} use as a counseling center, relocation and expansion of the playground, relocation of an existing storage shed and trailer, and expansion of the parking lot.
As a final aspect of the plan, although a driveway already connected the parking lot to Route 32, the Church sought to build a second access road about 500 feet to the north of the existing driveway that would assist the flow of traffic between the parking lot and Route 32. The new roadway would be aligned opposite a residential cross street, creating a four-way intersection on Route 32.
The ZBA referred the entire expansion application to the Town Planning Board for a report and recommendation. At the request of the Planning Board, the Church hired Creighton Manning Engineering, LLP to conduct a traffic study. The engineering report concluded that the proposed expansion, including the addition of a new access road, would have no significant impact on traffic in the surrounding neighborhood and that no mitigation was necessary at the affected intersection. Based on the report, the Planning Board issued a "positive recommendation" concerning the project, but suggested that plantings be placed to shield neighboring properties from the effects of the expansion.
In the meantime, neighborhood residents retained professional engineer Lawrence M. Levine to conduct a traffic analysis. Levine determined that the proposed secondary access road would create traffic problems both for churchgoers and for nearby residents. Levine cited the potential for increased cut-through traffic that would disrupt the residential neighborhood across from the church property, turning conflicts that could result in accidents at the new four-way intersection and sight

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