Judge lets sale of St. James church continue

The sale of St. James the Great Episcopal Church to a developer planning to build town houses can continue, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge David McEachen decided that parishioners of the Newport Beach church did not have the legal right to file a claim seeking to stop the sale since their group is not listed on the deed.

“It’s very disappointing,” parishioner Joel Bernard said. “We will continue to make the City Council aware of the concerns surrounding the transaction and appeal to the Episcopal Church.”

Bishop J. Jon Bruno of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles announced in May that the 70-year-old church, at 3209 Via Lido, and two nearby parking lots were being sold for about $15 million to Legacy Partners Residential, which plans to build about 22 high-end townhomes.

The parishioners group, Save St. James the Great, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court on Monday in an effort to slow and eventually stop the sale, which is expected to be finalized on Friday, according to court filings.

The group argued that the church’s sale would violate the original deed, which called for the property to be used exclusively for church purposes.

Ownership rights to the property were transferred from the Griffith Co. to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 1945. The Griffith Co. developed much of Lido Isle, beginning in the 1920s.

Lawyers for the diocese wrote to the court that the church in 1985 negotiated removal of the use restriction from the deed, granting the diocese the right to sell the property for other purposes.

One of the Irvine lawyers representing the diocese declined to comment Wednesday. The other did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Sunday is expected to be the final service at the church. Immediately after the service, the diocese plans to remove the pews, stained-glass windows and cremated human remains stored in the church.

“The community will be faced with an empty building, which is not good for anyone,” Bernard said.

It is not clear how the property will be used while the developer goes through the process of asking the city to rezone the land for residential use.

Since the property is zoned for private institutions such as a church or private school, the City Council would have to approve a general plan amendment and zoning change before homes could be built.

Several council members indicated Tuesday night that they are concerned about the community’s lack of available land for houses of worship.

“We have churches that meet in restaurants, meet in public buildings, in schools and libraries because we don’t have enough space to build churches or synagogues to respond to the need in our community,” Councilman Keith Curry said.

Councilman Scott Peotter, who was on the city Planning Commission when the St. James zoning was put in place, vowed to look closely at the property before making his vote.

“I feel very strongly that church zoning is a benefit to the community, and it would be difficult to convince me that there might be a higher and better use,” he said.