Hearing Scheduled on Church Hall

The long-simmering controversy over construction of a new social hall at the Neighborhood Church in Palos Verdes Estates will go before the City Council during a public hearing at 8 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

Residents of Malaga Cove, where the bluff-top church is located, contend that the new social hall will lead to expanded church activities, including weddings, which would aggravate traffic and noise problems. The church argues that the new hall will provide space for social activities now held in a portion of the sanctuary and will not result in more activities, which church officials say they have agreed to limit.

The Planning Commission has sent the council contradictory signals on the issue. It approved for the social hall a grading permit that calls for a drainage system on church property to prevent further bluff erosion. But earlier, the commission recommended against a required conditional-use permit for the project, primarily because an environmental study predicted increased traffic.

Some council members have said it is time for them to decide the issue after six years of controversy.