St. James Russian Orthodox monastery clears major hurdle in plan to build church

A Russian Orthodox monastery's plan to build a church on its Saint James campus advanced after Head of the Harbor’s planning board approved the site plan.

The Monastery of the Glorious Ascension on North Country Road wants to develop a 3,341-square-foot house of worship on its 4.6-acre campus, which includes the historic Timothy House. The proposal has generated opposition from some village residents, including a lawsuit that was dismissed earlier this year. The property is in the St. James Historic District. The congregation is also known as Monastery of Saint Dionysios the Areopagite.

The planning board voted 3-1 during its Aug. 12 meeting to approve the site plan. Board member Dale Salzberg cast the only no vote.

Father Vasileios Willard, who heads the monastery, said in an interview that the current worship space is too small for even simple practices such as prayers and hearing confessions.

"On Sundays, I have to basically kick people out of a room because there’s nowhere else to meet with them, so doing things like counseling, confession, pastoral work ... it’s been very challenging," Willard said. "So having the space and facilities to do that is going to be a real transformation process."

The final approvals must come from the village's architectural review board. Then, the monastery can apply for building permits to begin construction. 

Planning board chairman Harlan Fischer said at the meeting the proposal was years in the making. The site plan approval was likely the final hurdle.

In 2021, the planning board recommended denying the monastery a permit for the church because of “significant adverse impacts” it could have on the historic district. Board members also expressed concern then about the potential for increased traffic and the need for additional parking.

Since then opposition has grown more contentious. Some residents said a church there would drastically alter the area’s historic corridor even as the village warmed to the project. In March 2024, the board of trustees approved a special use permit that allowed the monastery to build the church despite its location in a residential zone.

Residents sued shortly afterward to overturn the approval. In April, a Suffolk State Supreme Court justice dismissed the lawsuit, noting that only one of the plaintiffs lived close enough to the site to have standing to sue. The decision also cited the "long-standing protection of religious land uses in New York law."

In June, the planning board asked the monastery to submit several documents including plans detailing what would happen to material excavated during the construction, as well as a wastewater management plan.

Project representatives said roughly 850 cubic yards of soil were to be removed, and all excavated material would be spread to other parts of the property "to ensure proper grading," according to the board's resolution.

Joseph Buzzell, the monastery's attorney, said he would file an application with the architectural review board in the next week so excavation can begin.