A church striving to meet the needs of its growing congregation is at odds with its neighbors who fear the potential environmental impact of a new, two-story building with a sanctuary seating 720 people and off-street parking for 240 cars.

Residents may pose direct questions to representatives of the church about its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) this Tuesday, April 13 at 321 Bedford Road at 8:00pm.

The Bedford Community Church has operated at its existing site at 160 Bedford Center Road, which fronts on Buxton Road, since the early 1970's. In 2004, the church purchased 13.3 acres of land across Buxton Road from Lakeover Development for its planned expansion. The new parcel also fronts on Buxton Road and is bordered by Interstate 684 to the east, Broad Brook to the north, and the edge of the Buxton Gorge property, which is just slightly further north.

P. Daniel Hollis, the attorney representing the church, said he hopes to avoid redundancy and repetition at the meeting, noting that the town had accepted their initial environmental impact statement.

But opponents of the church, which is to include a children's church, banquet hall and 13 classrooms, in addition to the 720 seat adult sanctuary, say the DEIS does not address their concerns about water, septic and traffic.

"Aside from the traffic impact, which is enormous, they have not completed the necessary water tests for the DEIS," said Buxton Road resident Don Carniato. "How do we know if our wells will have enough water to draw from? We don't know if our groundwater can recharge to sustain the area."

The DEIS states that the proposed church "will require the installation of a new well and subsurface sewage disposal system…The applicant (church), will perform drawdown tests to determine the impact of the proposed well on neighboring wells. The results of these tests will be included in the Final Environmental Impact Statement."

Carniato said that's too late for anyone to present informed arguments at the hearing. "They've also underestimated the impact on air quality, energy and the general disturbance to this quiet area."

Both sides have signaled they are prepared to fight.

Carniato and his neighbors formed the Friends of Buxton Gorge approximately five years ago to raise funds to professionally review the DEIS and conduct environmental studies of their own. They hired the firm of Zarin & Steinmetz to assist.

Church attorney P. Daniel Hollis, of Shamberg, Maxwell, Davis & Hollis, said they planned to show that they have dealt with any concerns from the Department of Environmental Protection as well as the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Bedford Planning Board Chairman Donald Coe said that their job is to ensure that the environmental impact is minimized by any new proposed structure in town.

"They are entitled to apply and we have to review their application. We hired specialists to evaluate the DEIS and we are satisfied with that. Now it's the public's turn to review," he said.

Following the hearing, concerns may be submitted to the planning board for response in the FEIS. The church will take as long as it needs to fully answer all of the concerns raised Tuesday night.