Church size goes before commission once again

Deirdre Newman

Throughout its torturous, two-year quest to expand, the burden has

been on St. Andrew’s Church to tailor its growth to neighbors’ and

planning commissioners’ concerns.

That burden will continue at the Planning Commission meeting

tonight at City Hall, as the church must demonstrate that its

22,000-square-foot expansion will have a markedly positive effect on

the neighborhood, commission chairman Larry Tucker said.

The commission will consider recommending to the City Council a

resolution to change the general plan for the expansion. The

commission will also consider endorsing an environmental report on

the effects of the growth.

Although the majority of planning commissioners said they felt

comfortable with St. Andrew’s expansion plans at the Nov. 18 meeting,

approval tonight is not a guarantee, Tucker said.

The church will be given an opportunity to show how its expansion

at 600 St. Andrews will improve the neighborhood, and the neighbors

will have a chance to respond, Tucker added.

“We’ll be listing a whole series [of benefits],” church building

committee chairman Ken Williams said. “Some people will look and

think, ‘Big deal.’ Others will say, ‘That’s pretty nice.’ It’s in the

eyes of the beholder.”

Not all the neighbors’ eyes are satisfied, even though the

commission is requiring about 20 operating conditions the church must

abide by, said Don Krotee, one of the leaders of a group of Cliff

Haven and Newport Heights neighbors who oppose the expansion.

“The selection of conditions that the commission has sort of heard

and responded to from [the church] seems to embrace most of the

things that the church wants, not what the community wants,” Krotee

said. “I think that’s going to result in most of the community’s

criticism, and I think all of it will be very well-founded.”

The church’s $20-million expansion is centered around a youth and

family center to accommodate younger families in neighborhoods

surrounding the church. It has scaled its plans down 40% from its

original proposal because of neighborhood opposition.

The commission’s goal of making the neighborhood better stems from

the traffic and parking woes the Cliff Haven and Newport Heights

areas have endured because of the church. Many neighbors have

complained that the heavy traffic and lack of parking -- especially

on Sundays -- disrupts their quality of life.

Church officials say one of the major neighborhood improvements

they will tout tonight is an agreement with the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District that hasn’t been finalized yet. This agreement would

add about 80 to 100 spots to a lot at Newport Harbor High School,

across the street from the church, paid for by the church.

Planning staff members suggested making the church’s desired

expansion contingent upon a development agreement between the church

and the city. This agreement, which would be voluntary, would ensure

that adequate off-street parking would be provided for several

activities that occur at the church at the same time. It would also

ensure that off-street parking for the high school is increased by a

minimum of 70 parking spaces.

Church officials don’t want project approval tied to an agreement

over parking at the high school but understand the basis for it.

“It would be more comfortable to us if we knew the project was

approved and it wasn’t dependent on that,” Williams said. “But we

understand the need, and we understand why we’re in this position.”

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

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