All Peoples Church sues San Diego over blocked church project

All Peoples Church is appealing to a higher power the San Diego City Council’s decision to deny the permits required for an all-new facility with a 900-seat sanctuary on a vacant, 6-acre lot in Del Cerro.

Monday, the religious institution filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, arguing that the city’s decision to block the project violates federal protections provided to churches by the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act.

The suit also alleges that the city violated the church’s First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly and the free exercise of religion.

All Peoples Church is asking the court to override the city’s decision and declare that it can proceed with its project. It is also seeking financial damages of an unspecified amount.

“This is the last thing a church wants to have to do. It’s really because we had no other option,” All Peoples Church Pastor Robert Herber told the Union-Tribune. “After going through six years of the process, and then having the unanimous vote in our favor by the Planning Commission, we were completely taken off guard by what happened at City Council and really felt like it was a mistreatment.”

A spokesperson for the City Attorney’s Office said the office would not comment on the pending litigation.

Started in 2008 by Herber, All Peoples Church is said to have weekly attendance of around 800 adults and children. The church is currently operating out of a City Heights facility with a lease set to expire this year. The current property is also said to be too small to accommodate All Peoples Church’s growing congregation.

In late 2017, the church purchased the Del Cerro property near Interstate 8 and College Avenue, adjacent to residential neighborhoods. It then sought to amend the Navajo Community Plan to allow church use on land zoned for residential use.

In the process, All Peoples Church ran into fierce opposition from members of the community group Save Del Cerro, which branded the project as a “megachurch.” Group members have argued that the proposed church facility is out of scale for the neighborhood and that increased car traffic would create a safety hazard. The group has also previously voiced objections on its website and social media profiles to some of the church’s Christian teachings.

All Peoples Church is seeking to build a 54,476-square-foot church building, situated near the College Avenue off-ramp, with a 900-seat sanctuary, a multipurpose room with a basketball court, and second-floor classrooms and staff offices. The project calls for a two-level, 71,010-square-foot parking garage with 203 spaces just north of the church building and 116 surface spots along College Avenue. The plan includes a new intersection with a traffic signal at the church’s primary entrance.

The project requires a general plan amendment, community plan amendment and site development permit, as well as certification of the project’s environmental impact report.

In September, the San Diego Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of the project.

Business

All Peoples Church project in Del Cerro blocked by City Council due to ‘faulty’ traffic analysis

The decision came despite city staff’s recommendation and puts the future of the project, already more than six years in the making, in limbo.

Jan. 10, 2024

But in January, City Council members voted 6 to 2 to deny the project, against the recommendation of city staff.

The decision was driven by Councilmember Raul Campillo, who represents Del Cerro and said the church’s application was legally flawed. Campillo argued that the project’s environmental impact report and associated traffic study grossly under counted weekday car trips associated with the planned basketball court, allowing the church to bypass a more thorough review of its potential traffic impacts.

San Diego-based LOS Engineering estimated that the gym would have five daily users, on average, and generate 10 car trips. The project’s traffic engineer said the gym’s use was calculated in a blended way alongside other church activities because it does not have bleachers and is intended to be used by people at the church.

City staff, which also reviewed the traffic study, told council members that they believed the environmental impact report accurately reflected the project. All Peoples Church also offered to remove the basketball court from the project.

Council members were required by federal law — the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act or RLUIPA — to cast their vote based only on land-use matters. The law is designed to protect individuals and religious institutions from discrimination in zoning, and prohibits government entities from imposing a “substantial burden” on churches.

An information sheet distributed by the U.S. Department of Justice provides several examples of RLUIPA violations.

“A church is denied a permit to build an addition to accommodate more Sunday school classes, which it believes it needs to carry out its religious mission. This may violate RLUIPA if the town cannot show a compelling reason for the denial,” the document states.

The All Peoples Church complaint leans heavily on the federal statute.

“By denying the project, the church’s intended religious land use, the city has placed a substantial burden on the church’s religious exercise. Indeed, the City Council’s denial was not supported by the evidence in the public record; did not provide the church with an adequate opportunity to respond or take steps to address the City Council’s concerns; and will force the church to turn people away in violation of the church’s sincere religious beliefs as described herein,” the suit states. “The City Council’s actions have chilled the church’s efforts to build a church in the city because it would take years, extensive efforts, and expenses to go through another land use approval process — all the while fearing that the City Council would yet again disregard the recommendations of staff and the Planning Commission.”

The suit also calls into question Campillo’s motives, stating that the council member lives a half-mile away from the project site, met with the Save Del Cerro group in 2021 and was seeking reelection. The council member has, “no land use, traffic, transportation, weather or engineering background or experience,” and made a number of, “erroneous traffic and transportation claims,” the complaint states.

Campillo through a spokesperson declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

All Peoples Church’s lead attorney is Dan Dalton of Dalton & Tomich, PLC. Dalton previously represented Our Lady of Peace Academy, which sued the city of San Diego for blocking its campus expansion plan on similar grounds. The lawsuit was settled in the Catholic school’s favor in 2014.