Local church’s parking-lot plan has advantages

Forgive us the expression, but it seems that every time St. Andrew’s

Presbyterian Church officials make a move these days, the devil is

seen in more than just the details.

And that’s unfortunate.

The latest case of St. Andrew’s bashing comes after church leaders

announced they were pursuing a $3.5-million agreement with the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District to increase parking at Newport

Harbor High School’s 15th Street lot from 250 to 330 spaces.

The goal, church officials say, is to help alleviate the excess

parking in the neighborhoods adjacent to the school and church.

And we don’t have any reason to believe otherwise.

Still, church officials barely got done making the parking pitch

when the anti-St. Andrew’s rhetoric went into high gear, accusing the

church leaders of using the parking as a ruse to get its ducks in a

row before talks begin again about the parish’s much-publicized and

controversial expansion plans.

Those plans that call for a 22,000-square-foot increase that would

create a youth and family center have been incendiary from the start.

Neighbors of the church have accused St. Andrew’s of being a bad

neighbor and growing beyond its community-church model.

A mega church doesn’t belong in a neighborhood, they contend.

All good points and worthy arguments.

But let’s back up.

St. Andrew’s has been a part of the community a long, long time.

While its greatest sin may be that it is too popular, it is, after

all, a church.

The residents need to refrain from casting stones every time the

leaders of this Newport Beach institution make a public comment or

suggestion.

Whether the bigger expansion plans are a good idea is a separate

issue and should be argued as such.

Mixing that up with this latest parking proposal is unfair to

church officials and ultimately, perhaps, to the school and the

neighborhood, which may stand to benefit in the long run.