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<br />Draft Excerpt of Minutes
<br />April 12, 2007 Planning Commission Meeting
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<br />Page 3 of9
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<br />and July, he said, adding that it's dark in August and they were canceled in September. We came
<br />en masse in October to plead their case, and finally came before the BZA in November. He said
<br />they were canceled again for the next three months, and then the issue came as an overlay
<br />proposal, which the City Council last month. The only problem, he said, we don't fit into the
<br />criteria, which were created around their building, not with their building in mind. He said that's
<br />he is hurt by the staff recommendation for denial, and said it does not seem fair. Pastor Mortara
<br />added several points about how Faith Fellowship serves the community with a number of
<br />different free ministries - drug and alcohol rehabilitation, a youth program that serves hundreds
<br />of boys and girls, marriage counseling, family counseling, feeding programs, single parents. We
<br />do it because we're here to serve the community and love it, and don't ask the City for anything,
<br />he said. He added that the length of time involved in pursuit of zoning approval has been arduous
<br />and costly - more than $40,000 per month for each delay and postponement. The issue of the
<br />health hazards on the site, he said, has just come up for the first time. Had that been stated as a
<br />potential problem at the start, he said the church probably would not have purchased the
<br />building. He said there are more than 1,000 employees in area, working in those companies. And
<br />now it's a health hazard?" he asked. Halfway through this process, he stated, City Manager John
<br />Jermanis personally told him that if he were to get letters of acceptance by other businesses in
<br />the area, it would greatly favor the church. Pastor Mortara said that he did, obtaining letters from
<br />Richard Spratling (Kennerley-Spratling), Scott Hess (KS Automotive), Dave Clare (Challenge
<br />Dairy Products), Richard [last name not audible on tape] (NCCI), and Steve Sodeberg (Otis
<br />Spunkmeyer). According to Pastor Mortara, the fire captain described the site as a perfect place
<br />for a church. He concluded by saying, "We have followed the due process. I have done
<br />everything that has been asked of me. And now the staff sends a letter saying we want you to
<br />deny them. .. I'm appealing to you tonight on behalf of the thousands of people that come to our
<br />church... That property fits us perfectly... It's a win-win for everybody... We need your
<br />approval. "
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<br />Peter MacDonald of Pleasanton, a former urban planner and former city attorney who now
<br />practices land use law, said he would address the nitty-gritty zoning issues. The issue, he said,
<br />isn't whether the site will work for the church, because he described it as a "fabulous" location.
<br />Rather, he said, the issue is whether the zoning is in the City's best interest. San Leandro wants
<br />land uses that fit together so that it is a functional community for people to live and work. The
<br />City needs places for churches, because a substantial number of residents participate in religious
<br />communities. The problem is more acute for large congregations, and it is important as a
<br />community member for a church to recognize when it has outgrown its facility. In the current
<br />location, when church services are held, church-goers fill every available parking place for
<br />blocks around its Manor Boulevard site. It is not fair, he said, for a large congregation to be
<br />forced into that residential setting. Mr. MacDonald pointed out on a map the hundreds of
<br />locations from which residents signed a petition asking the City to let the church move to the
<br />location the church selected. Recognizing the problem, he credited the planning staff for creating
<br />the AU Overlay District. Had the AU Overlay existed before Faith Fellowship started to search
<br />for a new site, they might have found a property on one of the suitable locations. Of the two
<br />criteria that staff established for consideration of AU Overlay is proximity to an arterial street to
<br />ensure adequate access. However, he said that the City's computer model inaccurately failed to
<br />classify Farallon as an arterial. It is identified as such in the General Plan maps, he said, as well
<br />as Map Quest. Both show Farallon as an arterial. It was designed and built with extra width and a
<br />middle left-turn lane, and Farallon connects nearby to arterials in every direction, including
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