A show of good faith from St. Andrew’s Church

It seems that St. Andrew’s Church in Newport Beach is practicing what

it preaches.

Church officials last week offered yet another revision to the

size of its $20-million expansion project. The new plan shows a 40%

reduction from the original proposal, which would have added almost

36,000 square feet as an addition to the church campus at 600 St.

Andrews Road, anchored by a new youth and family center and a parking

garage.

The latest revision comes after two size reductions and two years

of talks with neighbors and planning commissioners over the project.

The expansion has not set well with neighbors, who have clashed

with church officials about the scope of the project and what they

see as its threat of worsening traffic and parking snarls in the

neighborhood and an increase in noise.

Those concerns should still be heeded by the church. But it is

increasingly looking like the church is making a good-faith effort to

compromise -- gnawing away at extra areas such as storage space and

the fellowship hall to come up with a smaller plan. The project’s

expansion is now down to 21,714 feet. That’s consistent with the goal

of the Planning Commission -- which has become a kind of arbiter,

nudging the groups to make a deal -- of limiting the project to

between 18,000 and 22,000 feet.

It also seems in line with what the church has been preaching.

“We feel a ministry responsibility to this community, and we’re

trying to have a facility that matches the need and ministry needs

for the next two or three decades,” Church Pastor John Huffman told

the Pilot in May.

With the reductions, it seems church leaders have made not simply

a passing effort to match the church’s growth to the needs of the

community.

Now it is up to neighbors to do some soul searching, to see if

they can live with the more contained growth.

“It’s a good step,” said Bruce Stuart, a neighbor who has been

involved in the talks. “Is it enough of a step? That’s kind of too

early to tell.”

True. The Planning Commission could decide as early as Nov. 18 if

the reductions address enough parking and traffic concerns to approve

the revised plan. A dose of scepticism in the “40%” claim is healthy.

But let’s hope there’s a chance for this neighborhood conflict to

subside and for the two sides to get back to loving thy neighbors.