FULLERTON : Council Hearing on Church Ban Set

The City Council will hold a public hearing today to consider whether it should change an ordinance prohibiting churches from locating within the downtown business district.

The law in question was passed in 1984 to make sure downtown remained a retail and service center--one of the goals of Fullerton’s redevelopment efforts.

The area is bounded by the Santa Fe Railway tracks on the south, Malden Avenue on the west, Brea Creek Channel and Ellis Place on the north, and Pomona Avenue on the east.

In May, the owners of a commercial building at the northeast corner of Amerige and Malden avenues asked the City Council to lift the restriction so they could locate a prospective tenant, New Harvest Christian Fellowship, in a vacant suite.

The owners, Spiros and Elthera Skentzos, have since found another tenant that would be allowed at the site, but the City Council and Planning Commission already had planned to review the ordinance.

“Cities have for years been able to prohibit churches in some zones and allow them in others,” said Robert Linnell, a city planner. “The city’s redevelopment goals are meant to stimulate commercial activity, bring in foot traffic.”

Because churches are often vacant during business hours, they do little to attract customers to downtown, Linnell said.

At a Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 25, Sam Casey, a representative of the Western Center of Law and Religious Freedom based in San Francisco, questioned the legality of the ban, saying that it restricts religious freedom and the right of business owners to choose their tenants.

But city officials say that there is legal precedent that allows cities to impose such regulations, much as the city would prohibit a gas station in a residential area.

“It will go one way or another based on political reasons and not legal reasons,” City Atty. R.K. Fox. “This is nothing new. The ordinance has been on the books for seven to eight years.”

The Planning Commission voted 4 to 2 against changing the church restrictions.

The 12-block area already had three churches when the ordinance was imposed, Linnell said. No restrictions will be placed on how long they can remain at their sites, he said.

The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Fullerton City Hall.