Church Gets Another Try at Fitting In on Palomar

Despite opposition from the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society and most of the residents on Palomar Mountain, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa was granted another four months to redesign a church camp it plans to build on Palomar Mountain.

Church officials Thursday told members of the county Planning and Environmental Review Board that they have reduced the size of their proposed resort atop the San Diego County landmark in response to complaints from Palomar residents that it is not in keeping with their rustic way of living.

But residents and environmentalists testified Thursday that the plan, after four years of negotiations, is still outsized and unwanted.

The Orange County church originally proposed a recreational resort that would accommodate more than 1,000 visitors at a time. Retreats would last from several days to several weeks, with the facility operating about half of the year.

Church officials have lowered the limit to 350 occupants at a time, but the 300 permanent residents of Palomar Mountain and representatives of Cal Tech’s Palomar Observatory still oppose the development.

A volunteer fireman testified Thursday that the area’s small department could not serve the 350-person development, and a water district official said church plans to drill wells would threaten residents’ water supplies.

County engineers testified that the 550-acre church property is marred by geologic faults that would make it difficult to develop a large project, but church spokesmen asked for and were granted one last chance to develop a plan that would “fit in with the rural setting on the mountain.”

Palomar Mountain residents asked the county board to deny the group’s permit application now instead of approving another chance to redesign the project.

Calvary Chapel’s initial proposal called for four playing fields, a swimming pool, a small observatory and the facilities to handle more than 1,000 guests and staff members.

A church spokesman said that, if the group cannot come up with an acceptable design by October, it will abandon its plans.