Planning commission recommends denial of Oasis of Blessings church specific use permit at 1306 East Eighth

The Planning and Zoning Commission voted on June 18, 2025 to recommend denial of a specific use permit (case SUP2025-02) requested by property owner Anna Castillo to rebuild a church at 1306 East Eighth Street in an SF-2 single-family residential district.

Staff briefed the commission that the church at the site burned in December 2023 and that a similar SUP was previously presented to P&Z and city council in 2024 and denied. Neighbors who opposed the earlier proposal raised complaints about noise (including music), traffic, late hours and on-street parking. The applicant revised the proposal to reduce the building footprint, limit hours and add sound insulation; the revised plan shows 12 on-site parking spaces, which staff said meets the city’s code parking ratio (one parking space per four seats for the shown 46 seats).

Staff and the record show four written negative responses from nearby residents within the 200-foot notification radius; staff said notices were mailed and published as required by state statute. Conditions the applicant offered or that staff recommended to mitigate neighborhood impacts included limiting regular services to Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings (plus one monthly evening worship service maximum), prohibition on services past 9 p.m., removal of kitchen/cooking facilities (or, if reintroduced later, compliance with kitchen grease trap and fire suppression requirements), prohibition on overnight residential use, and a requirement to obtain building permits for reconstruction.

Following a public hearing with no speakers at the meeting, a commissioner moved to disapprove the SUP; the motion was seconded and carried by unanimous vote. The commission’s negative recommendation will be forwarded to city council, which has final authority on the SUP.