While the city of Pleasanton is approaching buildout and the number of development projects are beginning to lessen, area churches are in the midst of a building boom.
At a recent Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 13, Pleasanton Presbyterian Church–the oldest church in the city–was given the OK to install a temporary structure at its future Ironwood site for up to 10 years while the church raises enough money to fund a new place of worship.
The proposed permanent church facility, estimated to cost between $7 million and $10 million, is planned for a 6-acre site at the corner of Valley Avenue and Busch Road and will be part of the new Ironwood community built by Ponderosa Homes (formerly the site of the old Pumpkin Patch).
It is planned to include four buildings into a church complex comprising nearly 100,000 square feet. A three-story sanctuary will be the focal point and the other buildings will serve as centers for church activities for youths, seniors and its Kinderkirk preschool.
The ever-expanding congregation has come a long way from the first church where Pleasanton Presbyterian was housed. Built in 1876, the church on Neal Street was used for more than a century before the congregation outgrew it in 1979. For the past 35 years, the growing number of Presbyterians has been attending the church’s current facility on Mirador Drive. Now, with more than 550 members, the time has come to move to yet a larger facility.
An 80,000-square-foot tent-like building will be erected as a temporary church facility at the future church site in the coming months. It will remain the new church facility for up to 10 years or until the church raises enough money for a new facility, according to the temporary permit issued by the city.
“We’re moving lock, stock and barrel, and moving to a new location; it’s not an easy task but this gives us an opportunity to get on-site and continue our church operations,” said Pleasanton Presbyterian Rev. Mike Barris.
Made by Sprung Instant Structures, the tent-like structures have been used for casinos, churches, cruise ship terminals, at the North Pole and even at the site of Ground Zero in New York City.
The structure will be a green color, which concerned some planning commissioners, but Barris said in the sunlight, the “bayberry” green is less noticeable.
“White and tan colors jump out at you,” Barris said.
Another church in town, Trinity Lutheran on Hopyard Road, is looking to update its current facilities and expand its parking to accommodate churchgoers.
A workshop was held at a recent Planning Commission meeting to review the church’s proposal to replace the existing temporary structures with a one-story, 8,100-square-foot education building; a 3,100-square-foot multipurpose room; and additional parking spaces and landscaping. Trinity received approval to install temporary buildings in 1993 to house children in its Sonshine preschool and for Sunday school.
The workshop was also an opportunity for Planning Commissioners and the public to comment on their thoughts of the project. A handful of residents spoke of distaste for the church’s plans, saying they were concerned about traffic flow and safety in their adjacent neighborhood on Golden Road.
Saying he thinks the new church facilities will encourage more people to attend services there, Golden Road resident Mike Serrano said that it will in-turn double the traffic in the adjacent neighborhood.
“They’ve got to go somewhere,” Serrano said of the churchgoers that may not be able to find parking in either of the church’s two lots.
At issue is that the current Trinity Lutheran parking area is separated into two lots–one on Del Valle and one on Golden Road. What often happens is when churchgoers can’t find a parking space in the Del Valle lot, which is smaller, they drive around to the Golden Road lot to find a space, neighbors described. When that is filled up, they look for street parking–in the neighborhood.
“We’re feeling boxed in over here,” said Del Valle Parkway resident Jimmy Uranwala.
Many of the speakers asked church officials if they could reposition their expansion plans to drive more traffic onto Del Valle as opposed to Golden Road, but officials said they are making an effort and have made concessions.
“We’ve really been trying to work with the neighborhood,” responded architect Tim Mattheis.
He added that the permanent facilities would be much more attractive, the attendance size would not increase exponentially and that the plans were in no way an attempt to overrun the region.
Commissioner Arne Olson suggested to Mathias and Pastor David Beard that the plans include running a connecting road for the two parking lots behind the church facility and closing the Golden Road parking lot entrance.
Commissioner Phil Blank suggested making the building smaller and trying out different locations on the site.
