Local News in Brief : Church Use of School OKd

Seeking to avoid creating a dispute between a church and its neighbors, the Palos Verdes Estates City Council this week extended for only one year a conditional-use permit for the use of Margate Intermediate School for church services by the Lunada Bay Christian Fellowship.

A three-year permit was requested by the Rev. Wayne Coombs, the church’s senior pastor, but the council opted for a yearly renewal because of the church’s growth and the potential for parking problems at the school on Sunday mornings.

While only two complaints about overflow parking were registered last year with the city by Margate neighbors, the council agreed that it did not want to see a dispute at Lunada Bay like the one that has dogged Malaga Cove, where neighbors for years were upset about traffic generated by the Neighborhood Church.

Coombs said Lunada Bay Christian Fellowship’s congregation has grown from 200 to 400 in the past year and he anticipates adding another Sunday morning service. The permit, which was first approved a year ago, authorizes the daily use of Margate by the church from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.