LOS ALAMITOS : Religious Group Seeks Right to Site

For the second time in as many months, the City Council has been asked by a religious organization for permission to congregate at a site zoned for industrial use.

Lorani Ministry, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Grace Korean Church of Norwalk, wants to run a youth ministry center for about 120 high school students from a site on Portal Drive. Industrial businesses and Los Alamitos Elementary School border the property.

The council held a public hearing on the matter but postponed a final decision until May 14 so that the city can contact the organization’s potential neighbors.

The Planning Commission had approved the group’s request for a conditional use permit on April 2, but Councilman Anthony R. Selvaggi appealed that decision to the council, saying a five-year lease is too long and that the surrounding tenants should be notified.

Distinctions were made at the council meeting between Lorani Ministry’s request for a permit and the one made by Grace Church (a different organization) that the council denied earlier this month.

While Grace Church wanted to establish its headquarters--complete with sanctuary and fellowship hall--on Winners Circle, representatives from Lorani Ministry said they would only use the Portal Drive property as a gathering place for the youth ministry program and that church services would not be held there.