Residents near the historic Stow House in Goleta are pushing back against a proposed 22,000-square-foot development to house Anthem Church.
Kerri Maxwell and Sylvia King, who both live in the area, have been actively gathering signatures to oppose the project.
"It's just way too big for the neighborhood," Maxwell said. "In our neighborhood, nobody wants it."
King's biggest concern is parking.
During the pandemic, Anthem Church held outdoor services in the dirt lot at 6595 Covington Way. During that time, Maxwell says several problems arose.
“When Anthem was having its events in the field under the tent, there were many problems with noise and traffic.”
The church is now looking to establish a permanent location at the same site, planning to construct a two-story building featuring a 500-seat sanctuary, daycare, preschool, and space for 26 weddings and 30 memorials each year, in addition to 125 parking spaces.
However, King argues that the amount of parking simply won't accommodate the needs of the congregation.
“Parking will flow into the neighborhood. During COVID, when Anthem was here with their temporary tents, it flowed all up and down the streets,” King said.
At Tuesday's Design Review Board meeting in Goleta, Mike Rider, representing Anthem Church, said that the size of the project is comparable to several single-family homes.
"You know, if you added up five single-family homes with accessory dwelling units (ADUs), you'd easily achieve that too. If you had condos, it could be double that," he stated.
Rider also said the parking lot would be shared with Stow House and warned that if the church project does not move forward, the availability of that parking could be jeopardized.
“That parking lot goes with the land and with our church. Without our church, we are forced to go to another kind of project that won’t provide a parking lot for Stow,” he added.
Additionally, the church is requesting permission to decrease the buffer between the proposed site and an environmentally sensitive habitat area from 100 feet to 50 feet.
Currently, Maxwell says their petition has more than 300 signatures.
Anthem Church is expected to return to the Design Review Board at a later date for preliminary approval before the project undergoes further examination by the Goleta Planning Commission.
