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On Feb. 11, Pastor Derek Meekins shared with his congregation a vision for the future of the 40-year-old Harvest Valley Church on Hopyard Road.
Like many churches, Harvest Valley had struggled since the pandemic lockdown, particularly with its preschool. Classes there met in one large room, a feature parents loved until they got very concerned about the virus. Attendance plummeted and church leaders finally concluded that they needed to close the operation—a major hit to the operating budget as well as to the staff they laid off.
Before launching into the details, Meekins shared that God had given him a vision seven years before of cars lined up to get into Harvest Valley, but it was on Sunol Boulevard not Hopyard Road. That was confusing, to say the least. He wrote it in his journal and moved ahead.
Then the virus hit the fan with the governor trying to shutter all churches while leaving the liquor stores, pot sales, and all retailers open.
With the preschool finances crashing and church attendance off, Harvest Valley was running deeply in the red and exhausted its reserves. It was to the point that Meekins was ready to resign to buy some time financially. God told him No and, reaching back in his desk, he pulled out an offer from a developer to buy their church from several years earlier. He was prompted to call them and, to his surprise, they were still interested in pursuing the project.
Meekins told the congregation that the offer, contingent on city approval, would allow them to pay off their debt, purchase the former headquarters of Berlogar Geotechnical on Sunol Boulevard, do the necessary improvements and move in with a substantial amount to invest in ministry.
Getting to the new home has run into some hurdles. The developer received neighborhood pushback on the density and height of his project (it borders single-family homes) and the owners of the Sunol Blvd. building rejected the offer to purchase the site and continue to try to lease it. The irony is that the building is ideal for the church use with several second story offices that are a negative for other users as well as a clear span for the worship space. It has been on the market for years. It was built to suit the needs of the geotechnical engineering firm.
The project is set to return to the Planning Commission this month after the developer presumably has worked with city staff and the neighbors. It should be noted that the proposal was well within the city’s underlying residential zoning for the site. The issue is similar to that faced by apartment projects on West Las Positas across the drainage canal from single-family homes in Parkside.
Developers, neighbors and the city will have the same issue on many of the newly designated infill sites that are repurposing them for residential.
Stay turned for seeing how the church and God bring the vision to completion.
