Volatile parking issue stuck in idle

Michael Miller

The Newport-Mesa Board of Education meeting on Tuesday boiled down to

a faceoff between two kinds of people: those who want a larger high

school and those who want a smaller church.

More than three dozen local residents spoke at the district

education center Tuesday evening, as the board heard a presentation

by St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church concerning plans to increase

parking for the church and for neighboring Newport Harbor High

School.

Opinions were split almost evenly, with a number of church members

and Newport Harbor students voicing support for the larger parking

lot, and other citizens expressing disapproval for what they saw as a

veiled excuse for church expansion.

The Board of Education made no ruling on the St. Andrew’s parking

proposal. Supt. Robert Barbot said the board’s next opportunity to

discuss the matter is at its meeting on April 12, but at least three

board members must make a formal request to put it on the agenda.

Last month, St. Andrew’s submitted a $3.5-million proposal to the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, offering to expand the school’s

parking lot on 15th Street from 250 to 330 spaces and also to move

and renovate some storage buildings in the lot. In exchange for the

improvements, which would come entirely out of the church’s pocket,

the district would sign an agreement to share parking with the church

for 30 years, with the possibility of four five-year extensions.

At the meeting, Ken Williams, chairman of the building committee

for St. Andrew’s, and fellow committee member Jon Marchiorlatti made

a presentation on their plan for expanded parking. Marchiorlatti

noted that the number of student drivers at Newport Harbor vastly

exceeded available parking spaces, and that many students had to park

in two-hour spots on the street.

Under the church’s plan, St. Andrew’s would add as many as 80 new

spaces, eliminate the aging maintenance buildings and improve

lighting in the lot. If any of the $3.5-million lease fee was left

after construction, committee members said, it would go into other

school improvements.

Many of the residents voicing support for the project were

students at Newport Harbor, who have long struggled with parking

difficulties.

“Students have to rush out of school at 9:35 to move their cars

before the next class starts,” said senior Blaise Brunda, president

of the Student Political Action Committee. Brunda added that the

number of students dashing to the parking lot caused a possible

safety hazard.

“Every morning before school there’s a mad race to get parking,”

said fellow senior Matt Stokke. “It is a race. I’ve seen it with my

own eyes, and it’s not appropriate for a place where people go to get

an education.”

Gail DuFour, a Newport Beach resident and former high school

teacher in Santa Ana, praised the St. Andrew’s offer as a boon to the

school.

“I spent 25 years fighting for funding for program after program,”

she told the board. “There was never enough money to go around. So

when I looked at this proposal, I thought, ‘This is something that

needs to be done.’”

Most of the opposing viewpoints centered around criticism of the

church expansion, which the Newport Beach Planning Commission

approved last December with the condition that the church must have a

parking agreement with the school. Some residents argued that

expanding the church and parking lot would make traffic problems

worse.

“It’s just plain silly to try to build a cathedral on a postage

stamp,” said Sandy Spurgeon McDaniel, whose family has lived in

Newport Beach since 1947. “They’ve outgrown their property. I don’t

ever want to put down in any way what this church has done for the

community, but I think this is a mistake.”

“I do not agree with the concept of a nongovernmental entity tying

up public property for 50 years,” said Brian Brooks, another

resident.

He added that if St. Andrew’s wanted to help the high school, it

would do better to donate the $3.5 million without a lease hold.

A number of other residents expressed concern that the parking

agreement would violate the separation of church and state. Williams,

in his opening remarks, dismissed this argument, saying that the

church had held early services in Newport Harbor and often offered

its facilities to the school for banquets and other events.

“There’s been a relationship between St. Andrew’s and Newport

Harbor for maybe 50 years,” Williams said.

Although the Planning Commission passed the church’s expansion

plan in December, St. Andrew’s must apply to the City Council for

final approval of the project. Council members have postponed

discussion of the plan until a parking agreement is in effect.

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at michael.miller@latimes.com.