Church hopes locals see the light

In the 11 months since the Newport Beach City Council granted St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church permission to expand, church officials have been refining and redesigning their plans to fit new facilities in the footprint of existing buildings.

Church leaders are scheduled to discuss the plans today with neighbors, who have adamantly opposed the church’s request to add more than 21,700 square feet.

It’s the third such meeting the church has held to keep neighbors in the loop on building plans and to try to heal the breach that opened during the contentious expansion discussions.

After a two-year hearing process, the City Council ultimately allowed the church to add 15,000 square feet, but residents thought even that was too much. They argued the proposal to add a youth and family center with a gym and more parking would simply be too large and would worsen the burden of traffic the church already puts on nearby streets.

Now, church officials have opted to knock down and rebuild the fellowship hall and education building. The new buildings will stay the same size aboveground, but both will gain basements, church building committee chairman Ken Williams said.

The first floor of the new fellowship hall will be a flexible space that can be used as a gym or for other activities. The parking lot will be repainted to make all of the 250 spaces full size, while now at least a quarter of them are for compact vehicles.

Williams did not want to speculate on the possible cost of the project because no detailed plans have been created. He expects it to cost somewhat less than the earlier expansion plan, which was estimated at $25 million to $30 million.

Residents are pleased with the church’s proposal to stay within its current footprint, though they are a little uneasy about the church keeping the entitlement to expand that the council granted, said church neighbor Bill Dunlap.

“We’re optimistic that they’ll stay true to their word,” Dunlap said. “They said to us that they’re not going to expand.”

Williams said the 15,000-square-foot entitlement is the backup plan, should other options fall through, but it’s not an ideal solution now that the congregation is in favor of the current rebuilding plan.

Detailed plans will be prepared by this fall, and construction is expected to start in about a year.