FOUNTAIN VALLEY

Religious organizations are now allowed to operate in commercial zones if adequate parking is available during their events, the City Council announced at a meeting Friday. The council unanimously voted to make the change to the municipal code at a meeting that lasted just five minutes. City officials revised rules that banned churches in commercial zones on the heels of the July 21 settlement with Shalom Alliance Network, the conservative Christian group that filed a federal lawsuit against the city because it was prohibited from holding worship services in a Harbor Boulevard office suite since December. “We’re very happy,” Pastor Mariano Yeo said. The group has already resumed its Sunday worship services. Yeo’s attorney, Brian Fahling of the American Family Assn., said the city will pay Yeo about $5,990 to cover the group’s expenses, including extra rent.