Neighbors, Church Satisfied : Hope University Site Approved

Only months ago, Hope University in Anaheim, believed to be the nation’s first college for artistically gifted, mentally retarded people, was in trouble.

Hope officials wanted to move the university from two rooms in the back of an Anaheim shopping center to the Euclid Street Baptist Church in the Anawood area.

But neighbors in that area already were angry about the church’s own school there, which they said created too much noise and traffic. Hope University, they said, wasn’t welcome.

Today, however, Hope students are preparing to pack their musical instruments and move to the church because the City Council this week approved an agreement between the university and its new neighbors.

Under the agreement, the Baptist school, which neighbors had sought to shut down, will close by Sept. 15. The 180 elementary and 60 preschool students will start the school year at a new, private Christian school their parents formed, “a school that love built,” said Joyce L. Milburn, a parent. That school will be at at Magnolia Baptist Church in Anaheim but won’t be affiliated with any church, she said.

The shuffle of schools and the final agreement have relieved all sides.

“It’s been a long hard fight, but the Anawood residents feel it’s been worth it,” resident Howard Richey said Wednesday. “The majority are happy.” But, he said, “in a large group, you are not going to find everyone who is 100% satisfied.”

School Closure Ordered

The controversy peaked when the Anaheim Planning Commission agreed with neighbors and ordered the church to immediately close its school, which the city attorney conceded had been operating for years without proper permits.

Church school officials had sought to relocate to a site in Anaheim Hills, but to do it over a three-year period.

However, the idea of moving their children to Anaheim Hills, far from home, was news to the parents and it didn’t please them, Milburn said.

“We first read about it in the newspaper,” Milburn said. “We didn’t know. Parents began to become concerned and said, ‘What is this?’ ”

But then, the City Council in February overturned the Planning Commission’s decision and granted the church its request for a three-year phase-out.

Irate neighbors coalesced and hired an attorney who worked out the agreement with the church that was approved Tuesday.

That still could have left parents who didn’t want to move the school to Anaheim Hills with a dilemma. But months ago, they had begun meeting to decide what to do.

“All of us live in West Anaheim and Garden Grove. None of us intended to take our kids to East Anaheim,” Milburn said.

So they formed their own private Christian school at nearby Magnolia Church. The new school will not be associated with the Magnolia church but will use its facilities, pending final city approval, Milburn said.

The new Anaheim Discovery Christian School advertised for teachers. And all the teachers at the Euclid Street church school applied--and were hired.

“We liked the chemistry, so we wanted to stay together,” said Milburn, one of six members of the newly formed school board which will oversee the Discovery Christian School.

“It all worked out,” Milburn said.

The neighbors threw their support behind Hope University in exchange for the closing of the church’s elementary school and preschool, she said. Now, the neighbors “welcome Hope University,” according to attorney Julia E. Sylva, who represented the residents.

Gregory W. Sanders, an attorney representing the church and Hope University, said Wednesday that he was glad to hear of the change of heart but that he wondered “if those neighbors will ever accept Hope University. They started out with a plan to have the council not approve Hope University for that site. And I’m not sure they’ve come to accept Hope University. I hope they have.”

Several residents said the issue was always one of land use and not, as some people alleged, discrimination against the mentally retarded.

“We were never against Hope. We were against any school,” Richey explained.