Por JEFF CLEMETSON<\/p>\n
As evidenced by recent-past, current and near-future development projects, La Mesa is in the midst of a housing boom. Red-hot demand to live in the city \u2014 and the potential profits that demand brings \u2014 is spurring La Mesa property owners to sell and developers to build.<\/p>\n
However, one recent project proposal to redevelop the block surrounding Sprouts Market hit a snag in its early stages that shows that not all development in the Village \u2014 even smart-growth development \u2014 is inevitable, despite the money it brings. That snag in the project is La Mesa First United Methodist Church (LMFUMC), who despite admittedly needing financial resources to care for its 100-year-old church building, opted to not sell off its daycare site the developers needed for the housing project<\/p>\n
A mutually beneficial proposal<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat we were trying to do was pretty cool, I think. But what I think doesn\u2019t really matter \u2014 at the end of the day the church didn\u2019t want to sell the land to me,\u201d said Scott Hodson, vice president of PacTrust, the developers who own the Sprouts Market property. \u201cBut the concept was really interesting. It was transit-oriented housing, downtown adjacent and it creates some density but set back from the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Hodson said the plan to redevelop the Sprouts property has been a priority for PacTrust for several years. Pac Trust has owned the property for over 20 years and the proposed project was meant to address issues with the property, including fixing the loading dock for Sprouts, which currently forces trucks to stop traffic on Spring Street as they back into the loading area. The plan would also change the grades of the alley behind the market as well as the parking lot areas, which are subject to flooding during heavy downpours.<\/p>\n Five years ago, PacTrust bought up the apartments at 4650 Palm Ave.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew we needed to buy that building because we knew whatever needed to be done to solve the problem of the trucks loading on Spring Street had to be fixed by moving trucks on and off that parcel,\u201d Hodson said, adding that PacTrust also purchased the two duplexes directly behind Sprouts.<\/p>\n To pay for the redevelopment of the Sprouts loading dock and parking areas, a sizable housing component would be necessary, so PacTrust began negotiating with LMFUMC to purchase what the church refers to as the \u201cFireside Property\u201d that currently houses the daycare facility.<\/p>\n In a video presentation to the church\u2019s board of trustees in October, Hodson laid out PacTrust\u2019s vision for the project that \u201cwould honor the church architecture and preserve Sprouts Market.\u201d<\/p>\n The PacTrust proposal was to combine the church\u2019s daycare and the duplexes\u2019 properties and build a four-story mixed-use building with 41 market-rate units.<\/p>\n In addition to purchasing the church property, PacTrust also offered to make improvements to the 100-year-old sanctuary such as added walkways and most significantly, a fix to the flooding issues in the church\u2019s 7,000-square-foot basement area that is currently unusable.<\/p>\n The plan would have eliminated some of the church\u2019s parking but would have included a shared parking plan utilizing Sprouts\u2019 lot on Sundays during church services.<\/p>\n The PacTrust plan also included a suggestion of installing some fencing around the church courtyard for use as a playground for the daycare, which conceivably could be moved to another space in the church with the added square feet opening up in the unused basement.<\/p>\n LMFUMC Rev. Christian DeMent (see sidebar story on page 4) said that the church\u2019s trustees and PacTrust had been in discussions and negotiations over the possible sale of the Fireside Property for the past two years. The board got the property appraised, and when the PacTrust purchase offer was confirmed as a \u201cgood deal,\u201d the trustees pursued the idea further, eventually leading to the October presentation of the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy it was something we would entertain is \u2026 our building is 100 years old on the corner of Palm and Lemon and other parts of the facility are pretty old as well so there\u2019s a lot of deferred maintenance issues,\u201d DeMent said. \u201cIt\u2019s a large campus and it can feel overwhelming to have a lot of issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides the flooding issues that render the church\u2019s 7,000-square-foot basement unusable, other costly needed repairs to the church include new roofing, doors and upgraded bathrooms in the Fireside building for the children\u2019s center.<\/p>\n Competing visions of property value<\/strong><\/p>\n DeMent was quick to point out that the PacTrust offer was both fair and generous. \u201cSelling the property would solve a lot of property issues,\u201d he added. \u201cBut as we considered this, there was a great liability as well, which is we would primarily need to close our children\u2019s center that has existed for 50 years serving the community, providing affordable child care for people in our neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Another consideration was the density of the project \u2013 putting a four-story apartment complex on the site. \u201cAnd what that did to the community, knowing the variety of high-density developments that are going in and are planned,\u201d DeMent said, and cited other large housing projects planned for the city like the 900-plus units planned for Alvarado Road, the Jefferson La Mesa project currently underway along Baltimore Drive and a planned housing project on the old police department property.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we recognized that would add more density in the downtown area \u2014 which could help local businesses \u2014 but with so much, we were concerned how it was going to impact traffic and single-family dwellings in the local area and those people who have moved here trying to escape some of that urban experience, which we know we\u2019re not going to stop it by not selling property \u2013 it\u2019s going to happen anyway \u2013 but we didn\u2019t want to be contributors to that.\u201d<\/p>\n DeMent also said that if the housing project behind the church was built, some aesthetics of the church would be lost, such as sunlight that illuminates certain stained-glass windows in the sanctuary and loss of some visibility of the church from Spring Street. Also, the aesthetic of the children\u2019s center \u201cprovides laughter and children playing in an urban environment that really is important; to see children playing instead of building after building after building. It\u2019s one of the only open spaces in our downtown area.\u201d<\/p>\n Another issue that guided the church not to sell was a different vision for what the property could be for the community.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we were in a situation where we needed to do something with that property to help us sustain us into the future, we want to have more control,\u201d DeMent explained. \u201cAs opposed to selling it to a development company that wants to build a four-story complex for their profit, we could if need be drive what might be developed there, maybe as a land lease. We could do affordable housing, or senior housing, or whatever it might be that would really allow us to meet our mission and vision for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, the church wants to still provide childcare on the site, as well as maybe use the space for other community uses.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about partnering with the farmers market on Fridays and having a food truck over in that area where families can sit and use the playground and order to go from local restaurants and be able to sit in an open space and have children play in a community space where maybe some live music can be played,\u201d DeMent said.<\/p>\n What comes next?<\/strong><\/p>\n Although LMFUMC has made its decision to hold on to the daycare property, it is still left with the question of how to fund the needed repairs to the aging church buildings.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that we voted to say \u2018no,\u2019 we are now engaging in that \u2018now what?\u2019 And that is a 10-year plan of prioritizing our greatest needs on the campus, getting bidding on how much that would cost and how do we engage in that and how we would chip away at the issues,\u201d DeMent said, adding that the 7,000-square-foot basement is the church\u2019s biggest issue and priority because the space could eventually be used to generate income or used to run programs that help the community.<\/p>\n To raise the funds, LMFUMC will need to start a capital campaign, which DeMent described as \u201ctough\u201d because church membership has declined from 2,000 members in its \u201cheyday\u201d to current membership of just over 200.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a large price tag and to ask 200 people to dig deeper into their pockets, it\u2019s just not going to be sustaining. We need to find alternative sources of income,\u201d he said, adding that the church recently hired a grant writer and has rented out its bell tower to AT&T for use as a cell tower. \u201cWe\u2019re going to need to be creative in how we finance things.\u201d<\/p>\n The church is not alone in its need for a new way to finance improvement projects. PacTrust is also now back to the drawing board in how to approach fixing the uneven parking lot, alley flooding and traffic-stopping loading dock behind Sprouts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have a long-term plan to intensify the site and put some housing there but \u2026 anything we would be undertaking there would be happening over time and we\u2019re only at the conceptual planning stage at this point. To be sure, if we were to redevelop that site with Sprouts as a continuing occupant there, we\u2019d need to address the parking for Sprouts,\u201d Hodson said, adding that plan would likely be a podium with housing built over a parking area. \u201cBut there is no plan that we\u2019re reviewing with the city or anyone else at this point on that concept.\u201d<\/p>\n Although PacTrust lost some money pursuing the purchase of the Fireside Property, Hodson described the church\u2019s decision as \u201ccompletely logical\u201d because it was based on the church\u2019s needs and its mission.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a great relationship with the church and we\u2019ve been collaboratively working on ideas for the whole block for the better part of three years,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re wonderful people and we have a great relationship with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Hodson added that he hopes that the goodwill between the church and PacTrust will be replicated when a new plan for the Sprouts property is eventually ready to be reviewed by the city and La Mesa residents.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think there is an opportunity for a thoughtfully-planned project here that produces a good outcome for the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n