Liberty Live, a church with multiple branches across Hampton Roads, received unanimous site plan approval from Smithfield’s Planning Commission on Aug. 13 to build its newest campus in town off Wimbledon Lane.

Currently, the Smithfield branch operates out of an office building on South Church Street and holds services at Smithfield High School on weekends.

Smithfield’s Town Council approved a special use permit in 2022 allowing the construction of a roughly 30,000-square-foot building on 6 acres buffered by a tree line behind Dollar Tree and O’Reilly Auto Parts.

Illustrations by Williamsburg-based design firm Guernsey Tingle included with Liberty Live’s site plan application propose a 23,000-square-foot, 500-seat church clad in red brick veneer and exterior insulation finishing system, or EIFS, also called synthetic stucco. The plan calls for 206 parking spaces, including eight that are handicap-accessible.

Senior Pastor Grant Etheridge, when presenting Liberty Live’s permit request in 2022, had estimated the congregation’s size at 500 members and 18 staff members as of that year.

Site plan approvals are among the few instances when the Planning Commission casts the final vote rather than issuing a recommendation to the Town Council.