Commission endorses church expansion

Deirdre Newman

A glum Planning Commission endorsed St. Andrew’s expansion project

Thursday night despite the vehement objections of neighbors.

After five hours of testimony and discussion, the commission

recommended the City Council approve a change to the general plan to

allow the church to expand by 22,000 square feet to accommodate a

Youth and Family Center. The recommendation, which passed on a 6 to 1

vote, is contingent on 23 operating conditions the church has to

abide by.

Opposition to the growth is based on repercussions from the

church’s last expansion more than two decades ago. That enlargement

resulted in problems like increased traffic and lack of parking that

frayed the nerves of neighbors and eroded their quality of life.

Despite the skepticism of neighbors, the majority of commissioners

felt the conditions imposed on the church would noticeably improve

the parking and traffic issues in the neighborhood. But Chairman

Larry Tucker went so far as to advise the church not to expand

because the neighbors have such little faith in its pledge to play by

the rules.

“I would suggest that it would be the right thing for St. Andrew’s

to not build this [project] the way it’s constituted,” Tucker said.

“The church could have done a lot of things [over the years] and

hasn’t. It’s created so much animosity that the neighbors can’t see

any benefit. I don’t think that’s healthy, and I don’t see the

urgency.”

The church’s attempt to expand over the last two years has been

marked by so much acrimony that the Planning Commission had to nudge

church officials and expansion opponents to work together to come up

with a compromise. Although the church reduced its proposed expansion

by 40%, neighbors continued to chafe at the thought of even that much

growth.

They were not mollified Thursday. Cliff Haven resident Bill Dunlap

threatened a lawsuit if the City Council ultimately approves the

expansion.

“I think it’s absolutely ludicrous [the commission] can approve a

project the majority of the public doesn’t like,” Dunlap said.

Church officials said they were grateful with the commission’s

decision.

“We’re very appreciative of the Planning Commission and the amount

of due deliberation they’ve done, and of course, the conclusion they

came to,” church building committee chairman Ken Williams said.

“We’re concerned about the neighbors, and they’re very passionate in

their approach. We just hope and pray that the conditions that we’ve

agreed to will help ease their concerns.”

Throughout St. Andrew’s grueling attempt to expand, commissioners

remained fixated on the goal that the only way they would allow the

project to go forward is if the church could prove its expansion

would benefit the neighborhood. To that end, commissioners asked both

sides to come up with proposed operating conditions the church would

have to follow to alleviate current problems and prevent future ones

in the Cliff Haven and Newport Heights neighborhoods.

One of the conditions requires the church to enter into a 30-year

agreement with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to add at

least 63 parking spaces to the lot at Newport Harbor High School

across the street, to be used by both students and church members.

This agreement would have to be executed before the church could get

any building permits to start construction.

The commission unanimously approved a recommendation Thursday that

the council delay making a final decision on the expansion until the

parking agreement has been signed by both parties and approved by the

commission. The council will consider four options Tuesday on how to

proceed. Those options are: Hold a public hearing on Jan. 11 but

delay taking final action until the parking agreement is approved by

the commission; delay any hearing until the commission approves the

parking agreement; discuss the project at a study session on Jan. 11

and provide direction to the church and planning staff members; or

hold a public hearing on Jan. 11 and take action on the project

without an approved parking agreement.

The church has already made a proposal to the school district and

offered to pay to add the extra parking at the high school, Williams

said. It’s now up to school district officials and church officials

to fill in all the details of the agreement and then have the school

board consider it, Williams added.

Mayor Tod Ridgeway in November suggested the council consider the

project at a study session first. Tentative approval at a study

session could give the school district the confidence it needs that

the project will ultimately pass muster with the council, Ridgeway

said.

Some other conditions include limiting Sunday daytime occupancy to

1,800 people and requiring the church to cease operations on the

entire church campus at 10 p.m. daily, except for the Youth and

Family Center, which can stay open until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Whatever the council ultimately decides on the church’s expansion,

the effort has already alienated some members past the point of no

return.

“I no longer go to the church, because when I go there, I feel a

terrible sense -- not of spirituality but of arrogance and greed,”

Cliff Haven resident and Newport Harbor High School golf coach

Marianne Towersey said Thursday.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers government. She may be reached at (714)

966-4623 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.