The building at 627 Genter St will get 2,270 square feet of new additions and interior renovations.
A contested project for the expansion of Sea Change Church (formerly La Jolla Christian Fellowship) at 627 Genter St will go ahead, after the San Diego City Council denied an appeal March 18.
The 0.48-acre project site at Genter Street and Draper Avenue concerns the church’s education building, one of three buildings onsite. The renovations to the existing education building include 2,340 square feet of interior improvements to meeting rooms and bathrooms, replacing the existing exterior access stairs and the new construction of 2,270 square feet of additions including a roof deck.
The project was approved by the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board, the La Jolla Development Plan Review Committee and the La Jolla Community Planners Association in 2024.
The proposal is necessitated by the growth of the church outpacing the size of the existing building, project architect Kevin Leon said at the March 18 City Council meeting.
“One of the things we want to do is be a community center,” lead pastor Adam Stadtmiller said, adding “there just is no safe [indoor] space for kids to actually hang out.”
The appeal, filed in September, claimed the California Environmental Quality Act findings prepared for the project were not supported due to twelve issues.
Among the appellant’s concerns were CEQA violations due to “unusual circumstances”; city project manager Robin MacCartee responded the project “would create no unusual circumstances related to the health, safety and welfare of the surrounding community.”
To other stated concerns the project would add excessive transportation noise and was not reviewed for greenhouse gas emissions, MacCartee responded “future transportation noise levels are not an impact of the proposed project. The expansion of 2,270 square feet would increase the building occupancy load by 88 occupants,” which would not greatly impact the neighborhood.
Further, the plans comply with the city’s noise ordinance and Climate Action Plan, he said.
The appellant did not appear March 18 to speak or present further; neighbors who live a block away from the project site said the project would be welcome in the neighborhood and would not negatively impact them.
In denying the appeal, the latest in a series of such actions, San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava said the appeal “lacks substance.”
The denial passed unanimously without further comments from other council members.
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