Access denied
Paul Clinton
The Planning Commission has denied congregants of the Praise Christian
Center of Huntington Beach access to their chapel for another month.
The commission, at an April 9 meeting, refused to allow the members to
worship at the church until they secure a “conditional use permit” to do
so.
Church pastor Derek Anunciation has been battling the city to use the
2,500 square-foot section of the wood, A-frame building since late
December.
At that time, city fire marshals ordered Anunciation to stop holding
Sunday morning worship services in the building because it did not
conform to safety codes.
Anunciation denies that charge and has accused the city of trying to
run him out of town by imposing a series of onerous restrictions on the
building.
“It’s blatant discrimination,” Anunciation said. “Other churches don’t
have those requirements.”
The city has asked the services to be held at a 58-foot setback from
the building’s frontage and the street, a city staff report shows.
Planners also want a two-acre cap on the lot size.
Planning Director Howard Zelefsky denied the charge that city planners
are trying to freeze him out.
But the city would need to change the zoning on the land, which is at
the intersection of Ellis Avenue and Goldenwest Street, to allow for a
religious use, Zelefsky said.
The Planning Commission is set to consider the church’s application at
the May 14 meeting.
“If approved by the city, he does have the right, but until that
occurs he can’t occupy that building,” Zelefsky said.
Anunciation’s church held services in the building between June and
December. Four days before Christmas, fire marshals slapped him with a
“cease and desist” order, forcing him out.
Since then, the group has held open-air services outside the building,
which sits on privately owned land.
A Florida religious rights group has jumped into the fray to support
Anunciation’s claims. In an April 9 letter to the pastor, attorney Erik
Stanley of Liberty Counsel said the city is required to allow the use
under federal law.
The city’s restrictions violate the Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, Stanley said, because they would
“place a substantial burden on a church’s use of real property for
religious purposes.”
The evangelical Christian church, which counts 160 members, is in the
charismatic Baptist vein.
* Paul Clinton covers the environment, John Wayne Airport and politics
for the Independent’s sister paper the Daily Pilot. He may be reached at
(714) 965-7175 or by e-mail ato7 paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .
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