NORTHRIDGE : Neighbors Protest Plan for Church

Neighbors have appealed to the Los Angeles City Council a ruling that would allow a group of Coptic Orthodox Christians to build a church on the site of a former cattle ranch in Northridge.

The appeal is scheduled to be heard by the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee at 2 p.m. July 27 in City Hall, 200 N. Spring St. The full council will hear the case Aug. 4.

Neighbors of the proposed St. Athanasius Coptic Church at 17431 Roscoe Blvd. contend the impact of the church on traffic congestion has not been fully investigated. They want the city to stop the project, or at least to limit its height and change the configuration of the buildings, said Jack McCarthy, president of the White Oak/Roscoe Homeowners Assn.

“This is in fact a regional church,” opponent Hank Magid said. “People are going to be driving many, many miles to get to this church.”

But Jerome Buckmelter, land-use consultant for the church, said the impact on traffic through the neighborhood would be minimal, especially given that most car trips by church-goers would be on Sunday mornings, when comparatively few cars are on the road.

An appeal by St. Athanasius members of some conditions in the approval will be heard at the same time as the neighbors’ appeal. Buckmelter said the church wants the council to lift restrictions on operating hours.

St. Athanasius members have tried four times to win approval to build a church in the area to replace their existing 350-seat church on Woodman Avenue.

The proposed church would have 600 seats and 40,500 square feet on a grassy lot surrounded by houses with a narrow access to Roscoe.

The church was approved for construction by the city Board of Zoning Appeals March 30.

Church leaders have said that the ranks of members have been swollen lately with new immigrants from Egypt.

“They need a new home,” Buckmelter said.