Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Church Cup topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning Commission approves Grace Fellowship Church CUP at Red Hill Avenue with clarified condition for children's activity area
Summary
The commission approved a conditional use permit to convert two office buildings at 3146 and 3152 Red Hill Avenue into a Grace Fellowship Church, approving a clarified condition that designates the removed-window area as a 'non‑conditioned interior activity area' and requiring separate CUP approval for any daycare or school.
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission on Jan. 26 approved a conditional use permit (PCUP-25-0014) allowing Grace Fellowship Church to occupy two existing office buildings at 3146 and 3152 Red Hill Avenue and convert them into church facilities, subject to conditions and a clarified language change to the outdoor activity restriction.
Staff presenting the proposal said the two parcels total roughly 1.3 acres each and currently provide 177 surface parking spaces. The main sanctuary in 3146 Red Hill would be about 6,100 square feet with non‑fixed seating; the 3152 building would house classrooms, a kitchen and a multipurpose room. The project includes minor front additions to accommodate an elevator and an equipment room and proposes a covered play area produced by removing four storefront windows on the southern corner of the 3152 building.
Assistant planner Jeffrey Raimondo told commissioners the church plans service hours on Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon, with weekday office and group activities from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Staff recommended finding the project categorically exempt from CEQA (Class 15301 — existing facilities) and approving the CUP subject to conditions that expressly prohibit daycare or a school on the site without a separate CUP.
Commissioners questioned whether the covered play area should be called "outdoor" given that it is within the building footprint when windows are removed. Vice Chair Zick pushed to revise condition 5 to make the wording precise; the commission adopted a friendly amendment accepted by the applicant to refer to the space as a "non‑conditioned interior activity area" that may be used for children's activities and clarified that any independent daycare operations would require a separate CUP and review.
Architect Anthony Massaro and church representative Sean Sheward answered commissioners' questions on site security, ventilation and tenant relocation. Massaro said the unconditioned space is essentially a covered porch within the existing footprint and that the building code treats religious classrooms in an A3 occupancy differently from educational E occupancies: "We're not starting a school. We're not starting a daycare," he said. Sheward said month‑to‑month tenants in the 3152 building have agreed to relocate ahead of a projected May start, and most tenants in 3146 have been offered relocation aid or the option to remain on the second floor for up to three years.
Commissioner Martinez moved to find the project CEQA‑exempt and approve PCUP-25-0014 based on the findings and conditions; Commissioner Andrade seconded. After the friendly amendment to condition 5, the motion carried 6‑0. The decision may be appealed to the City Council within seven days.
