Eminent demolition

Bryce Alderton

Visionaries transformed a seafood restaurant once owned by actress

Mary Pickford into a place of worship eight years ago.

Now church leaders want something more.

For three years church leaders at St. Peter’s By the Sea Presbyterian

Church have had another vision -- one that does not include a house they

consider an eyesore. This new vision would demolish a house that sits on

the same property as their church so that they might build a new

sanctuary and multipurpose room. These new facilities could more than

double attendance for Sunday services, said Jene Alexander, a church

elder.

The realization of the vision is finally in sight.

On the lot that sits at the corner of Warner Avenue and Bolsa Chica

Street there is the church, a tennis court, the house and a pool.

The Spano family once owned the house and property that church members

began complaining about in October 2000, said Bill Zylla who oversees the

city’s code enforcement operations.

Linda Francis Spano owned 75% of the property and her son Joe owned

25%. But the county took over Linda Spano’s portion when she checked into

a county mental health facility leaving the county and Joe Spano as

co-owners.

The county turned over the parcel of land that includes the house and

the pool to the city. The city in turn condemned the house and plans to

tear it down and fill in the swimming pool, said planning director Howard

Zelefsky. First the City Council needs to approve the demolition.

Church officials have long awaited the impending demolition.

“We’ve wanted this thing cleaned up and abated for three years,”

Alexander said. “There is a public health problem that exists.”

The ramshackle neighboring house has been filled with problems, said

Curt Jones, a 45-year Huntington Beach resident and two-year church

member.

Among the list of complaints Jones has are that the house has been

home to transients who sleep and drink on the property, multiple fires

that have been set, stenches coming from a water well and a pool that

Jones alleges hasn’t been cleaned in years.

“Parents are concerned about the danger the house is to their

children,” he said. “The church has been robbed twice.”

The county posted signs condemning the house and Huntington Beach

officials hope to have a contractor on board within the next two weeks to

demolish the property, Zelefsky said.

But one city official wants to make sure the city follows the law

before he agrees to let any wrecking ball swing.

“We can’t trespass,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ralph Bauer. “We need to have

due process, we can’t violate the law.”

But property owners haven’t brought any challenges to demolishing the

house, Zelefsky said.

The church is already in escrow to purchase the portion of the site

owned by Joe Spano and hopes to nab the rest once its cleaned up.

Building a larger sanctuary and multipurpose room would increase

attendance to what Jones described as a growing church body.

“The church has continued to grow,” he said. “We’ve prayed about this

a lot. There could be more praise to God to thank him how much he’s done

for us.”

* BRYCE ALDERTON is the news assistant. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at bryce.alderton@latimes.com