Church leaders banking on a second opinion

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Calvary Church Newport Mesa officials will ask the City

Council on Monday to overturn an earlier denial by the Planning

Commission to erect a temporary structure for three to five years at the

church’s Newport Boulevard construction site.

After an initial rejection, Pastor Tim Celek petitioned council

members to challenge the Planning Commission’s decision. Councilman Gary

Monahan said he was happy to do so, adding that the item at least

deserved further scrutiny.

Celek said he was surprised at the denial but hoped the council would

recognize the church’s benefit to the community and allow the

7,910-square-foot temporary structure.

“We’ll see what will happen,” Celek said.

Last month, the Planning Commission narrowly voted down the church’s

request to build a temporary 36-foot house of worship at 2115 Newport

Blvd. that would host services until a permanent sanctuary on the site is

complete.

The commission majority said the temporary structure was not

compatible with its surroundings and would set a precedent for other

churches or organizations that say they have outgrown their existing

digs.

Monahan appealed the decision because the church’s need for more space

affects not only its members but those who live near the existing Orange

Avenue sanctuary. The church’s growing congregation has caused parking

problems in the surrounding neighborhood, and it would be good to allow

for services at the Newport Boulevard site, Monahan said.

Calvary Church Newport Mesa has embarked on a multimillion-dollar

project that, when finished, will double the size of its existing Orange

Avenue campus and include a new sanctuary, educational buildings, a

four-level parking structure and a multipurpose room.

Construction on the first phase of the plan is almost complete, but a

lack of funding will stall the sanctuary for a few years, said Dan

Steward, who is overseeing the project.

Celek said holding services in the temporary structure would allow the

church to accommodate its growing congregation while church officials

monitor the real estate market to find the right time to sell the Orange

Avenue property. The money from the sale would fund the new sanctuary.

Monahan and Celek contend that an appeal is reasonable because an

earlier city decision arguably hindered the church from selling the

Orange Avenue property for maximum profit.

Church officials had originally planned to build the project in one

step but were stalled by a citywide moratorium on small-lot development,

Celek said. While the moratorium did not apply to the commercial zoning

for the lot on Newport Boulevard, it made it nearly impossible to market

the Orange Avenue property, which is located in a medium-density

residential zone, to potential buyers.

“Nobody wants to buy land they can’t develop,” Celek said.

FYI

WHAT: Costa Mesa City Council meeting

WHEN: 6:30 p.m., Monday

WHERE: City Hall, 77 Fair Drive

INFORMATION: (714) 754-5223