The regular decorum in San Diego's City Council chambers was overruled, if for only a moment, on Tuesday night by opponents of a so-called megachurch in Del Cerro
The plans called for a 900-seat church, parking structure and gymnasium on six acres.
It was an emotional conclusion to a six-year struggle between supporters of the All People’s Church project and a community group called Save Del Cerro, which opposed it.
“Oh, my God, it was a fair decision,“ Save Del Cerro member Cristina Cotrell said.
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“We worked so hard — six years — and here we are tonight with a victory," said Michael Livingston. "It’s just exhilarating."
The decision by the city council, which rejected the project 6-2, however, was deeply disappointing for the All Peoples Church, whose members felt just as strongly about bringing this project to the community.
“I am disappointed, but we’ll see what happens," church member Bruce Roth said. "God’s in charge."
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“No matter what happens, we don’t have to get our way to be OK," church staffer Jeff Bianchi said. "I do believe the door is going to open for us to be in the right place at the right time."
The church would have been sited where College Avenue meets Interstate 8.
“That curb is a blind curb," said Cristina Cotrell of Save Del Cerro.'There have been so many accidents in that place."
After four hours of public comment and a thorough vetting of the plans, the majority of council members felt the traffic impact would be far greater than the church’s study projects.
“I still stick by the findings,” Pastor Robert Herber said. "I think they were entirely accurate. It was just an unfortunate decision today."
The project was denied but the moment begs the question, What’s next?
The Save Del Cerro group has several ideas for the property including a dog park, a wine bar or housing. The problem is that the church owns it. The community group, however, wants to buy back the land.
“San Diego needs housing," Livingston said. "Del Cerro is a high-resource area. We have amenities we can offer new residents. Let's do that."
Herber said the church will need time to consider how to best proceed.
“I’ve had 60 seconds to process this, so I have no idea," Herber said. "We’ll get with our team. We’ll discuss what our next options are."
The church is currently a tenant at its San Diego headquarters but will have to move at some point since the building it's currently in is being sold.
