Church, Residents Reach Accord on Expansion Project

A compromise has been reached between Holy Family Church leaders and their South Pasadena neighbors, settling a divisive fight over church plans to rebuild the school and other buildings.

For two years, Ramona Avenue residents have clashed with the 5,000-member church over plans to expand the church’s school by replacing four buildings on the street of tidy Craftsman-style houses. But hours before the Planning Commission was to consider the expansion Tuesday night, both sides agreed on a compromise plan in which the church would replace two of the four contested structures.

“Both sides were facing a risky, expensive, drawn-out battle which would probably not result in a definitive win,” said Chris Sutton, the attorney for the Ramona residents. “There’s a lot of relief, a lot of hope that it will work out.”

The deal was brokered by William Delvac, a prominent preservationist attorney, after weeks of meetings and negotiations. Although the church said it had no intentions of increasing enrollment, neighbors feared that more students would eventually attend the expanded campus. The agreement called for the church to limit enrollment at the school to 324 students. Also, there will be no further construction on Ramona Avenue.

New planning documents are being drawn up under the agreement, which also creates channels to deal with other neighborhood concerns, such as traffic congestion, Sutton said.

Ramona residents had threatened to sue or put the expansion to a referendum.

Holy Family officials welcomed the deal.

“There’s a lot of hurt involved that we’re hoping to heal over the next few years,” said Gina Osti, a parishioner who has been active in the expansion effort. “We’re a church. It’s always been our intention to do what’s best for the community.”

Neighborhood activist Joanne Nuckols added: “We did smoke the peace pipe last night.”