FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Church to Reapply for Relocation Permit

In an effort to satisfy unhappy residents in their prospective neighborhood, First Chinese Baptist Church officials have agreed to relinquish an existing permit and reapply to the city for permission to move their church from Westminster to a former private school on Brookhurst Street.

The decision came last week in the wake of a lawsuit filed last year against the church and Fountain Valley by resident Alex Gilbert, who challenged the environmental review process of the project by Fountain Valley.

City Atty. Alan R. Burns conceded last week that there were “some technical errors made in doing the last environmental review in terms of noticing and filings that were done.”

Citing the mistakes in the process by city planning staff, church officials agreed to withdraw their conditional-use permit application. The City Council last September voted to allow the church to move to the Brookhurst Street site, which is next to homes.

As a result of the church’s decision to relinquish the existing conditional-use permit, a Superior Court judge last week dismissed Gilbert’s suit.

First Chinese Baptist Church Pastor Murphy Lum said the church is willing to go through the city approval process again to ensure that the project meets legal requirements.

“We still would like to move to Fountain Valley, and, of course, we want to be legal and do everything step by step. That’s our intention,” he said, adding that the suit has delayed the church’s planned moved, which is needed because existing church facilities are at capacity.

A new conditional-use permit hearing will be held, and a new environmental review is underway, Burns said. No date has been set for the new hearing, which will be before the Planning Commission. The new environmental review is expected to be available for public comment in February.

Gilbert filed the lawsuit last October, a month after the two-hour public hearing on the project, where neighbors complained about the potential for traffic and parking problems from the church.

Gilbert filed the lawsuit because he said the city violated citizens’ rights regarding the environmental review process. He also claimed that the city refused to give him public documents during the environmental review.

A resident since 1969, Gilbert said he’s not opposed to the church moving to the neighborhood, but rather, “I’m opposed to not having open government.”

As a result of the lawsuit, Gilbert said, he hopes the city will follow the legal requirements that allow residents to review environmental studies on projects.

With the project under new environmental review, Gilbert said, “I think things will be corrected; then it’ll be a fair process.”