Access denied

Paul Clinton

The Planning Commission has denied congregants of the Praise Christian

Center of Huntington Beach access to their chapel for another month.

The commission, at an April 9 meeting, refused to allow the members to

worship at the church until they secure a “conditional use permit” to do

so.

Church pastor Derek Anunciation has been battling the city to use the

2,500 square-foot section of the wood, A-frame building since late

December.

At that time, city fire marshals ordered Anunciation to stop holding

Sunday morning worship services in the building because it did not

conform to safety codes.

Anunciation denies that charge and has accused the city of trying to

run him out of town by imposing a series of onerous restrictions on the

building.

“It’s blatant discrimination,” Anunciation said. “Other churches don’t

have those requirements.”

The city has asked the services to be held at a 58-foot setback from

the building’s frontage and the street, a city staff report shows.

Planners also want a two-acre cap on the lot size.

Planning Director Howard Zelefsky denied the charge that city planners

are trying to freeze him out.

But the city would need to change the zoning on the land, which is at

the intersection of Ellis Avenue and Goldenwest Street, to allow for a

religious use, Zelefsky said.

The Planning Commission is set to consider the church’s application at

the May 14 meeting.

“If approved by the city, he does have the right, but until that

occurs he can’t occupy that building,” Zelefsky said.

Anunciation’s church held services in the building between June and

December. Four days before Christmas, fire marshals slapped him with a

“cease and desist” order, forcing him out.

Since then, the group has held open-air services outside the building,

which sits on privately owned land.

A Florida religious rights group has jumped into the fray to support

Anunciation’s claims. In an April 9 letter to the pastor, attorney Erik

Stanley of Liberty Counsel said the city is required to allow the use

under federal law.

The city’s restrictions violate the Religious Land Use and

Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, Stanley said, because they would

“place a substantial burden on a church’s use of real property for

religious purposes.”

The evangelical Christian church, which counts 160 members, is in the

charismatic Baptist vein.

* Paul Clinton covers the environment, John Wayne Airport and politics

for the Independent’s sister paper the Daily Pilot. He may be reached at

(714) 965-7175 or by e-mail ato7 [email protected] .