ROOM TO GROW?—Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church on Appleton Road in Simi Valley hopes to expand. Neighbors hope otherwise. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers A local church’s plans to expand its facilities to nearly six times its current size have brought protests from nearby residents who say the project doesn’t fit into their quiet Simi Valley neighborhood.

During its Dec. 10 meeting, Neighborhood Council No. 3 reviewed a request from Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church for a conditional use permit to construct four new buildings in three phases.

The existing 4,663-squarefoot church at 1122 Appleton Road sits on a 3-acre lot that is surrounded by single-family homes. A major expansion of its facilities would result in a total new building area of 27,240 square feet as well as 125 parking spaces.

Neighbors in the area say they don’t like the idea of seeing a Mediterranean-style “cathedral” from their front or back yards or having parishioners park on their streets.

One of those residents is Yvonne Widel, who’s lived on Currier Avenue, just north of the church, for more than 12 years.

“It’s a little teeny tiny church. It’s real cute. It doesn’t hinder anybody,” Widel said. “But they want to build this huge, giant conglomeration. . . . It’s just going to destroy the little bit of heaven that our neighborhood is.”

Widel’s neighbor, Elana Carrillo, agreed, calling the proposal “outrageous.”

“I’m all for them cleaning up the church and expanding out a little bit, but the size they want to do, it’s just not right for the area,” said Carrillo, who’s lived on Currier for seven years. “None of the neighbors around there want it.”

The project site and surrounding areas are zoned medium-density residential. Churches are allowed in this zoning with a conditional use permit.

The proposed project would keep the existing church and construct a new sanctuary structure, a two-story banquet hall/ Sunday school, a day care center and a guesthouse. The sanctuary and parking spaces would be built in Phase 1; the banquet hall/Sunday school would be constructed in Phase 2, and the day care center and guesthouse would be built in Phase 3.

Widel said the design simply doesn’t make sense.

“It looks like a church that should be on Wilshire Boulevard, not a church that should be on Appleton Road in Simi Valley,” she said.

“A lot of the people who are part of the congregation don’t even live in the area. . . . We just feel they’re going to destroy our neighborhood,” Widel said.

According to Mark Oyler, deputy director of citizen services for the city, 64 people attended the neighborhood council meeting. Most were residents, although there were also representatives from the church and its architecture firm.

Oyler said residents like Widel and Carrillo expressed typical concerns associated with this kind of project: worries over traffic and parking, noise, architectural style, impact on the view of surrounding hillsides, the amount of additional square footage, the time it will take to build it and compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods.

“Repeatedly residents said that they like the architecture, they think it’s a beautiful structure; however, they don’t think it’s compatible with the neighborhood,” Oyler said. “Nobody said it was ugly, but they said it was the wrong place for it.”

Carrillo is most concerned about the damage that could be caused if the church’s proposed removal of an old walnut tree behind her house is approved. The tree’s roots go underneath her property and swimming pool. She’s unhappy, too, over the prospect of having a church with a capicity of 500 people behind her home. She believes it will devalue her property.

“Who wants a (giant) church directly behind their house? No one,” she said. “It’s too large of a church for that property.”

Despite the audience’s overwhelming opposition to the project, the Neighborhood Council No. 3 executive board passed a motion recommending the planning commission approve the permit.

The approval came, however, with several caveats, including eliminating Phase 3, adding more parking, modifying the architectural design and reviewing the traffic impacts.

With the approval of the executive board, the church was tentatively set to have a hearing before the planning commission on Jan. 20.

However, city staff said the church has decided to postpone the meeting to have more time to address the issues brought up by residents.

The Rev. Markos Hanna said in a brief interview with the Acorn that, due to “a little bit of difficulty” with the neighbors, the church had halted the process to deal with their concerns. He said the church plans to resume pursuing a permit in June or July.

Hanna did not return calls for additional comment.