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Huge Rent Hike Facing Peninsula Church
REDWOOD CITY, CA (September 29, 2000) - Nine San Francisco area churches and organizations, including Peninsula Covenant Church (PCC) in Redwood City, face massive rent increases on public land they have been allowed to use for many years.
The city's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has decided to charge congregations and other organizations commercial rent for portions of PUC land being used by these entities.
That means that instead of paying PUC a nominal $1 a year for PUC land the Peninsula church has been using, the rent will increase to more than $14,000 a year by 2003. The situation is even more costly for nearby Temple Beth Jacob, which will be charged $55,000 a year. Reuben Donig, president of Beth Jacob's board of directors, called the increases "shocking." Rent hikes are scheduled to increase gradually in coming years, according to PCC representatives.
Peninsula's properties director John Seybert, quoted in an article in The San Francisco Chronicle, termed the new valuation "laughable." The portion of public land PCC uses - along with most of the PUC land in question - is being used for parking and recreation space and is unable to be developed, according to Seybert.
Peninsula's executive pastor, Rod Toews, said the controversy centers on a water supply pipeline that comes from the Sierra Mountains and feeds San Francisco and surrounding areas. Part of that pipeline travels underneath the public property PCC has been using.
In January 1999, the PUC ruled that public land used for recreation purposes would be exempt from fee increases. Because the PCC campus includes tennis courts and a large swimming pool, some of the land is exempt. However, since churches aren't included as part of that exemption, PCC will be required to pay higher rent on the remaining public property being used by the church.
"We were shocked," said Toews, who added that a number of organizations have banded together to fight the rental fee hikes. "That land is useless for development because it has to be open access for rebuilding or replacement (of the pipeline), but they've assessed the value the same as in downtown Redwood City."
Besides the Chronicle and Christian media web site coverage, the ABC Television affiliate in San Francisco, KGO Channel 7, also documented the plight of the local churches. Ironically, the bad news for PCC received good play in the media, complete with pictures of PCC's spacious campus.
"Our campus never looked more beautiful," said Toews. "And we got more free publicity than you could imagine."
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