Church parking poses expansive problem

Deirdre Newman

As the controversial St. Andrew’s Church expansion project heads into

a key city hearing, a central sticking point remains: how to provide

parking in the otherwise residential neighborhood.

That question has proven a contentious part of the years-long

debate between church leaders and neighbors. Initial church plans

called for additions of 36,000 square feet, but after revisions

forced by neighborhood opposition, church leaders now want to expand

the facility by about 22,000 square feet, down some 40%.

In that additional area, the church wants to build a new youth and

family center and a parking garage and to refurbish the existing

sanctuary and other facilities.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to look at the proposal at

its Nov. 18 meeting. Commissioners have ordered church leaders and

project opponents to try to hash out their differences before the

meeting.

The expansion requires a general-plan amendment.

FINDING A GOOD SPOT

With parking, traffic and noise at the top of opponents’ list of

concerns, how to handle all the cars has been key to finding a

compromise.

To provide more parking for its 4,600 congregants and students

across the street at Newport Harbor High School, the church has

offered to pay an undisclosed amount to reconfigure the school’s

parking lot, adding about 80 to 100 spots. This would entail moving

storage buildings somewhere else on the campus.

In return, church officials want a 30-year lease to use the

parking spots on Sundays and when school is not in session. The

school would keep first priority of its parking lot. The church has

access to parking at the high school now but wants a letter to make

it official, the Rev. John Huffman said.

“[It would] be a plus-plus for the high school and the church,”

Huffman said.

On Oct. 21, a majority of planning commissioners said the parking

agreement between the church and school district would have to be a

component of any approval it would give the church.

And that, too, is proving a problem. It’s a chicken-and-egg

situation, because the school district doesn’t want to seal the deal

unless the city is ready to approve the project, Planning

Commissioner Barry Eaton said.

“The majority of the planning commissioners felt that needed to be

a part of this approval, because it’s so important to the

neighborhood to get that everyday parking with the high school

approved,” Eaton said. “How do you do one without the other?”

The school district and the church say they are waiting on each

other to proceed.

“There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen right now -- we’re

waiting on the school district,” Huffman said.

And the school district is waiting on the church to hash out the

details, Assistant Supt. of Business Services Paul Reed said.

If the commission recommends approval of the expansion to the City

Council with no agreement in place, Mayor Tod Ridgeway suggests the

council consider the general-plan amendment at a study session first.

Tentative approval there could give the school district confidence

that the project will go through.

The sticking point is that if the council approves the

general-plan amendment, and the school district board doesn’t approve

the agreement, then the general-plan amendment cannot be rescinded,

Ridgeway said.

A BALANCE OF BENEFITS

Once the amendment is in place, the church could contest under the

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act that the general

plan allows for expansion and circumvents the city, Ridgeway added.

The act states that governing bodies can’t impose land-use

regulations that impose a significant burden on the religious

exercise of a person, a group or an organization unless there is a

compelling government interest and any limits are the “least

restrictive means.”

“It gives [the church] some leverage, and I don’t think we’re

prepared to go there without the larger benefit to the entire

community,” Ridgeway said. “The return to the city is the community

benefit. So we need to be more careful on how we deal with this.”

The school district has been cooperative in preparing preliminary

documents for the city to review, Ridgeway said.

“We’re just trying to get the church on the right path, and I

think they are,” Ridgeway said.

For the school district’s part, it wants to make sure the

agreement benefits it as well as the community, Reed said.

“There are certain issues that pertain to the school district, and

it has to be the school district’s interest to be engaged in this,”

Reed said. “We can’t be engaged in the position where we lose

anything in the process, but this is not our problem that we’re

trying to help them solve. If there’s something from which the school

district can benefit, that helps create a compelling argument for the

school district.”

A WEEK’S WORTH OF HELP

The increase in parking for the school primarily will benefit the

neighborhood during the week, said Ken Williams, chairman of the St.

Andrew’s building committee. That’s because the church congregants

won’t be using the parking lot at all during the week -- only the

students will be using it -- so it will take 80 to 100 cars off the street, Williams said.

This is not the first time the school and church have tried to

hash out a solution. In November 2001, the church proposed

contributing 60% of the funds for a parking structure that would have

provided between 525 and 800 parking spaces on the school campus to

be operated jointly. But neighbors opposed to the church’s building

program didn’t like that idea.

The school district terminated the project, canceling meetings

scheduled to reveal concept drawings for the structure in April 2002.

At the time, opponents said they didn’t have enough information about

the church’s renovation plans to make informed opinions about the

parking structure.

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

966-4623 or by e-mail at [email protected].