Panel seeks middle ground

Deepa Bharath

City planning commissioners will try to help achieve a compromise,

which has eluded proponents of a local church’s expansion plans and

neighbors who fear the plans’ effect, the commission’s chairman said

on Friday.

Planning commissioners had called for St. Andrew’s Presbyterian

Church and the dissenting neighbors to give them a proposed list of

operating conditions, which both sides submitted on Thursday, city

officials said.

The conditions include items such as hours of operation and

occupancy limits for the church, which leaders are trying to revamp

with a $20-million, 21,714-square-foot expansion plan, anchored by a

new youth and family center and new parking.

But it was not surprising that the two lists of conditions didn’t

line up, prompting the commissioners to want to intervene to find a

peace between the two sides, Planning Commission Chairman Larry

Tucker said.

“Our attempt here is to allow the church to fulfill its

programmatic needs, while not significantly affecting neighbors,” he

said. “It’s a delicate balance that needs to be achieved, and that

will be the focus of our meeting on Nov. 18.”

Neighbors and church officials have clashed over the plan, which

the commission has delayed a decision on with the hope the sides

could compromise. The church’s original proposal called for a

36,000-square-foot expansion. Neighbors fear that the church’s growth

will lead to traffic congestion and too much noise.

One of the biggest discrepancies, which will be a tough one to

resolve, is the residents’ condition about occupancy on the church

site, said Ken Williams, the church’s Building Committee Chairperson.

Church officials have said in their conditions that the maximum

occupancy at the church will not exceed 1,900 on Sundays, 1,300 on

Wednesdays and 1,200 on all other days. But neighbors ask that

occupancy be limited to 1,600 on Sundays and to 450, on all other

days. The residents made an allowance for a maximum of 1,000 people

to be on church grounds from 6 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

While most other issues such as use of the church’s gymnasium,

parking and traffic issues seem negotiable, the occupancy issue will

likely remain a challenge, Williams said.

“They’re taking a restrictive position there,” he said of the

neighbors’ condition.

Cliffhaven resident Robert Craig said he doesn’t see any hope for

negotiation on the issue.

“I’m pleased that there is a church at the end of our street,” he

said. “But I firmly believe that expanding the church beyond this

point will have a negative impact on our neighborhood.”

Churchgoers are often anxious to find parking and speed down the

quiet street, where neighborhood children like to run around, Craig

said.

“There have also been many Sundays when I’ve had to pick up the

phone and call the city about cars blocking my driveway,” he said.

“Now they have Saturday evening services, so I have to make those

calls on Saturday, too.”

The church has had almost two years of discussions with neighbors

and the Planning Commission and has been through two size reductions

and plan revisions.

Commissioners normally do not like to interfere in such issues but

were left with few options on this one, said Planning Commissioner

Barry Eaton.

“We’ve tried not to get in the middle of negotiations,” he said.

“But now, the Planning Commission will try to pick what is the most

equitable position. And it’s going to be tough, because this is a

very contentious issue in the community.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or by e-mail at

[email protected].