Newport City Council faces a tough decision

A difficult decision awaits the Newport Beach City Council, and it

has nothing to do with City Hall or appointing a replacement for the

departing mayor, Steve Bromberg.

Earlier this month, thanks to the Planning Commission, the tangled

web that is the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church’s expansion plan

entwined the council again. This time, though, there is no

requirement that the church work out a deal to increase parking at

neighboring Newport Harbor High School. As this long-drawn-out tale

now stands, the church finally seems close to getting the green light

to begin its 22,000-square-foot expansion -- which residents have

passionately opposed -- and an accompanying 400-space parking

structure to handle the increased numbers the expansion will draw.

What remains between church leaders and their desired expansion

are those zealous residents in Cliff Haven and Newport Heights who

are sure to try to keep the council from approving the church’s

plans. This group of residents, which includes a core of the hottest

opposition as well as less intense but fairly widespread resistance,

cite the existing, longtime traffic, parking and noise problems for

their antagonism. They talk of churchgoers parking on lawns and in

driveways and of unbearable traffic that chokes their neighborhood.

And they do not believe that the expansion will do anything but make

those problems worse, added church parking or not.

The question is: Is there any hope for resolution?

We wish we could proclaim the good news that the two sides have

found common ground. But there are such fundamental differences here.

At the deepest root is a disagreement about the church’s future role

in the community. While none disparage the good work performed over

the years by the church, led so successfully by the Rev. John

Huffman, many of the opponents now argue that the church has outgrown

its neighborhood. Church leaders see the expansion as a way to help

them do even more good deeds. Where is the common ground between

those positions? That is the question the City Council faces.

Before it reaches the council, though, we once again urge St.

Andrew’s leaders and leaders of the neighborhood to see if they can

find the answer. If the church can come to an agreement, it will

prove it still belongs in the neighborhood. If the neighbors can,

they perhaps will find relief to the problems they say have long

plagued their streets.