Donald Krotee, president of the Newport Heights Improvement Assn.,
does not have a church flock. But he's got a membership in the
neighborhood organization he leads, which has become more like a
choir. Their one hymn? "No Expansion."
Krotee, an architect by trade, is at the forefront of a battle to
get the venerable St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, at 600 St.
Andrews Road in Newport Beach, to scale down its plans to develop
more than 35,000 square feet of new space on the church's 4-acre
campus, an effort that could cost the church about $20 million. The
church has applied with the city to receive a general plan amendment,
to go forward with its plans to demolish two buildings and develop
35,948 square feet that includes classrooms, a new youth center, a
gymnasium and an underground parking garage.
Church officials, like the church's pastor, John Huffman, see the
expansion as a benefit for children, parishioners and the
neighborhood itself. Others, like Krotee, see it as one big mess,
encroaching on the equilibrium of the neighborhood, bringing, among
other things, unwanted traffic to an area that values privacy.
The Pilot's Ryan Carter discussed the issue with Krotee.
Where are you now in dialogue with the church? Have talks yielded
any points of compromise? What's the latest?
In the Planning Commission meeting in May several planning
commissioners indicated that they had but two ways to vote: red and
green, and if they did in fact vote, one of the parties may not like
the outcome. Most of the neighborhood people think that the statement
was directed to the church, whose arguments were more from the heart
than from a logical point of view. However, the commission clearly
asked the applicant and the communities to visit or revisit the
possibility of a compromise proposal, and the meeting was continued
in the hope of some progress.
In a compromise meeting in May, the church invited our working
group to investigate the possibility of a middle ground. This session
was hosted by an attorney assisting the church. The neighborhoods
stressed that the best alternative project and the one reiterated and
offered as an alternative project within the draft environmental
impact report, recommended a remodel, but no additional growth.
In this option, the church might [demolish] the two buildings, the
same as they plan to do with the current proposal, replace the
structures with abbreviated portions of their old buildings and
feature their new program (youth center and the gym), place the
