DANA POINT : Evangelist’s Meal Center Sparks Suit

Some would say that Sal Becceril doesn’t have a prayer in this confrontation of church versus state.

In January, hoping to feed and spiritually comfort the homeless and poor in the Doheny Beach area, the 50-year-old evangelist leased an abandoned Caltrans substation that had long been a crash pad for transients and junkies and began cleaning up the decrepit building.

Fine idea, wrong place, according to city code enforcement officers. After months of warning Becceril that his plans violate city zoning codes for the one-acre site wedged between freeway ramps on Doheny Park Road, city officials filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court on July 16 against Becceril and the landowners, Cynthia and William Holder.

But in the name of God, Becceril said, he will fight City Hall.

“I don’t really blame” city officials, he said. “But I have a goal--to save souls. When there are people going hungry, kids getting knifed in the parks and shot in front of their houses, something needs to be done.”

Every Tuesday for the past seven weeks, Becceril, his wife, Mindie, and a handful of volunteers have fed the homeless and disadvantaged, many of them Mexican nationals who live in the thick underbrush of nearby San Juan Creek.

It’s usually a fine spread, most of those who turned out Tuesday evening agreed. The evening’s menu featured baked chicken, pasta donated by a local Italian restaurant and a fresh vegetable salad.

“I have been here one time before, and it is the best food I’ve had in a long time,” said Jose Martinez, a homeless man who was one of about 45 people, including some children, waiting to get fed.

Before dinner, Becceril gave a short sermon. Afterward, religious counseling was offered by priests from St. Michael’s Church in San Clemente.

Becceril said he hopes to expand his ministry into the community, in particular touching families whose children belong to South County gangs.

“Nothing against City Hall, but they don’t know what’s going on down here,” Becceril said. “We’re going to stop the spread of drug use by using the word of God.”

City officials applaud Becceril’s work but say he is violating a long list of ordinances.

“We told them to cease and desist and they’ve obviously been ignoring us,” said Councilman Mike Eggers.

“They don’t understand that site isn’t really good for any use. It’s in the middle of a (freeway) cloverleaf, and the bottom line is, they’ve totally ignored the city and created a hazard.”

Becceril has a response for most of the city’s charges.

The city says the building is in an open space zone, where food giveaways and organized religious activities aren’t permitted. Becceril responds that open space zoning permits recreation activities, and his feedings aren’t different from large picnics.

City code enforcement officer Angela Duzich said Becceril told her that he plans a 24-hour prayer center there. Becceril responds that he said there will be a 24-hour telephone hot line, not an all-night, drop-in prayer house.

Duzich said the city has offered to help find another place in Dana Point to feed the homeless. Becceril said he has never heard of such an offer but would be interested if the city found another site.

No court date has been set on the city’s lawsuit. If told by a judge to stop feeding and preaching to the homeless, Becceril said he will follow the advice of his attorney.