Council nears vote with open minds

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Leading in to a City Council vote on the

controversial expansion plans at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church,

the Daily Pilot is taking a closer look at the debate. We will

explore the plans, the people involved and the history that has two

parts of the community divided so dramatically.

Newport Beach City Council members are keeping their minds open in

anticipation of Thursday’s hearing on the long-debated St. Andrew’s

Presbyterian Church expansion project.

The number of additional square feet proposed has been the bottom

line to church officials and neighbors, but more than just square

footage will matter to council members when they decide whether the

church can add 21,741 square feet in the form of a youth and family

center, parking and other improvements.

“The fact that it’s big doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily going

to have the significant impact that these people [neighbors] are

saying,” Councilman Tod Ridgeway said.

The church has said it needs to remodel and build a gymnasium to

reach out to younger members. Residents of adjacent neighborhoods

have countered that existing church facilities create traffic and

parking problems that an addition will exacerbate.

The expansion plan was first proposed in December 2002 and has

been approved twice by the city’s planning commission, which added a

long list of conditions.

Tuesday, council members said they hadn’t necessarily decided how

they’ll vote, but they will be looking at specific criteria when they

evaluate the church’s proposal.

Church officials emphasize that they need a gym for youth-group

activities because their last expansion project, in 1982, didn’t do

anything for younger churchgoers. Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said

she’ll consider the project’s benefits to young people, but that must

be weighed against the effects the expansion will have on neighbors.

“I think that youth programs are a plus for our community,” Daigle

said. But, she added, “We need to look seriously at the impacts of an

expansion on a neighborhood.”

The church proposal isn’t new to anyone on the council, but some

council members are more intimately acquainted with it than others.

Ed Selich, who was appointed to the council in June, was on the

planning commission for 10 years and voted to support the church

expansion twice.

As a planning commissioner, Selich voted for the church proposal

because its added parking would benefit the church, nearby Newport

Harbor High School and neighbors by giving church and school visitors

more places to park off residential streets, he said.

Many of the 82 conditions the planning commission placed on the

church proposal are standard, Selich said, but he’ll be looking at

which of them may actually improve the traffic and parking situation

-- and neighbors will have to show the conditions won’t help.

“I’m going to be listening to what people say and evaluating [the

question], ‘Is the neighborhood going to be better off with or

without this expansion,’” he said. “I think they’re going to have to

come up with some good arguments as to why the planning commission

solution isn’t a good one.”

Looking for the overall benefit to the community will also be

Ridgeway’s approach. Any development will have effects on the

community, but he thinks those are somewhat reduced by closing off

the church’s Clay Street exits -- which is one of the conditions --

and adding parking for the church that the high school could also

use.

“I will look at this dispassionately,” he said. “I have no agenda

other than to look at this on balance, at the end of the day.”

Mayor John Heffernan is writing a script to ensure the meeting

runs in an orderly manner, and he’ll include a statement of his own

on the purpose of the hearing and what exactly the council is

considering.

He pointed out that the city likely wouldn’t grant as much density

as the church wants to a commercial applicant such as the Irvine Co.

But he’ll weigh that against the church’s mission and benefits to the

community.

When he makes a decision, Heffernan will have one main concern.

“Are we going to make the problems that the neighbors have today

better, or are we going to make it worse,” he said. “That’s going to

be a big thing.”

Heffernan plans to keep a tight grip on the proceedings to ensure

that no one is disrespectful and that everyone gets an equal chance

to express views on the proposal. And council members can be expected

to come to the hearing with open ears -- and minds.

“I can’t un-ring the bell; I was on the planning commission and I

voted for it,” Selich said. “But I’m going into this set of hearings

with an open mind, and I’m going to listen to all the evidence on

it.”

QUESTION

Which aspect of the St. Andrew’s expansion should the City Council

weigh most heavily? Call our Readers Hotline at (714) 966-4664 or

send e-mail to [email protected]. f7Please spell your name

and tell us your hometown and phone numbers for verification purposes

only.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].