St. Mark picks new home

June Casagrande

St. Mark Presbyterian Church leaders have their sights on an empty

space at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and San Joaquin Hills Road

for a new home for the campus.

An environmental study now underway for the 34,000-square-foot

project should be available for public review by Feb. 17.

St. Mark leaders hope to break ground late this year on the

26,000-square-foot first phase of the new church, on a lot they will

acquire from the Irvine Co. for an undisclosed amount. The new church

will include larger administrative, school and counseling facilities,

but will not include much added worship space, Pastor Gary Collins

said.

“The new facility will let us be more accessible to the community,

not just to our congregation, but we’ll have more space for community

services like our preschool and our counseling services,” Collins

said.

The new church will require a general plan amendment to change its

zoning -- it’s zoned as open space -- but the project won’t trigger a

Greenlight vote. The Planning Commission will vote on the project,

and the City Council will likely have the final say.

The city’s Environmental Quality Affairs Committee examined the

plans late last year and came up with a laundry list of concerns for

the environmental study to examine. One concern, committee Chairman

Robert Hawkins said, is that cars turning right into the new church

from Macarthur Boulevard could slow traffic behind them. Church

leaders said they have included a turn lane in their plans that they

hope will avert such problems, but that they’re willing to modify the

plans if the environmental study shows that the lane won’t do the

trick.

Committee members also said they were concerned about water

quality, noise, open space and traffic, Hawkins said. The

environmental study will include a traffic study and will examine the

other concerns. Church officials note that their plans for the

7.38-acre site include 1 1/3 acres of habitat area and 2.6 acres of

landscaping. The new church would add about 500 trees to the site,

many of them used as a noise buffer between the church and the

adjacent golf course and apartment building, which are from 9 feet to

30 feet lower in elevation than the church.

The move was prompted by Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church,

which is next door to St. Mark’s present site near the intersection

of Jamboree Road and East Bluff Drive. In hopes of expanding their

own facility, Our Lady officials approached St. Mark leaders and

offered to buy the property for an undisclosed amount. Expansion

plans for Our Lady Queen of Angels are not yet complete, said Scott

Barnard, consultant for both churches.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.