Covenant News
Rolling Hills to Submit New Construction Plans
ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA (August 26, 2005) - Having been rebuffed in previous attempts at expansion, Rolling Hills Covenant Church hopes to submit new plans to the City Council as early as next month, says Vergil Best, pastor of development."They changed policies on us so that they could deny us," Best says. The new plans would conform to the latest policies. Those plans would involve different architecture, a change in traffic flow and a reconfigured parking garage area.
The most significant changes involve zoning, Best says. The church has leased land from the local Metropolitan Water District since 1987 and has a conditional use permit because it was considered institutional space. "They changed it from institutional space to open space, so now they're saying we can't use that for our project," Best says. The change means a loss of 160 parking spaces.
Best also believes the city is treating the church differently from another completed project involving parking. Although the city had allowed the local Civic Center to have underground parking in which the land was covered by lawn, the Council instituted policies that would prevent the church from doing the same thing.
The congregation had until August 7 to file a lawsuit, but decided against it at this point. Best says some people were concerned suing the city would hurt the church's witness in the community. "That's not to say we won't ever sue," he added.
The church began planning the construction of a new worship facility 10 years ago, says Best. The church has outgrown its current facility, which seats 1,025. Six services are held each weekend to accommodate attendance. The church already had raised $14 million and invested $600,000 into planning, required studies, and legal fees, Best said in June.
The latest rejected proposal called for a 20,000-square-foot facility that would hold up to 1,650 people, and a three-level underground garage with spaces for 500 vehicles.
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