Politics & Government

Saranap Residents Divided By Sanctuary Plan

110 people speak at public hearing; county supervisors schedule Feb. 29 session to continue deliberations on Sufism Reoriented project.

There are divisions in the Saranap neighborhood, and they were reflected all day Tuesday through the prism of a hearing about plans for a bigger Sufism Reoriented sanctuary.

At the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors hearing, about 110 people — most of them residents of Saranap in unincorporated Walnut Creek — testified for and against on the controversial plans for a 66,000-square-foot new sanctuary for the Sufism Reoriented congregation in the area of Boulevard Way and Warren Road.

The county board, after closing the public hearing Tuesday, scheduled a session to continue its deliberation on the project (and appeal of November's approval by the Planning Commission) for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29, again at the Hofmann Theatre in the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek.

Tuesday's hearing, held at the Lesher Center to accommodate the large crowd, is for a larger project than the current Sufism Reoriented building on 3.1 acres in Saranap.

Hundreds of people attended the hearing. The first floor and balcony of the Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts were virtually filled in the late morning, and then the crowd thinned out as the afternoon wore on.

There were non-Sufi neighbors testifying for the project and non-Sufi neighbors dead set against it. Also trooping to the theatre microphones were plenty of Sufi members with enthusiasm for finally getting a sanctuary, designed with a white  domed look after more than three decades worshiping in a gray building, a converted nightclub that doesn't look like a house of worship.

There was a lawyer for the Sufism Reoriented congregation, and a lawyer representing the Saranap Homeowners Organization and several individual neighbors opposing the project.

Many neighbors objected to:

  • the size of the project clashing with the "semi-rural" character of Saranap.
  • the scale of construction and excavation with a 27-foot hole in the ground, most of the planned building being underground.
  • parking.

Many supporters cited:

  • the Sufis' history as good neighbors in Saranap.
  • the environmental harmony of the design with a parklike garden that will be open to the neighborhood.
  • the sanctuary being a buffer zone between the single-family residential neighborhood at one end of Boulevard Way and the commercial, light industrial character of the other end where Boulevard Way comes into Olympic Boulevard.
  • the need for the Sufis "to bring diverse activities together under one roof," said Sufism Reoriented Murshida (spiritual leader) Carol Conner.

The new sanctuary is designed in a circle with domes because "a circle has no beginning and no end and expresses eternity," said Conner. The dome will have tranquil interior spaces in soft white marble.

A look at the Sufis

Indian spiritual figure Meher Baba founded Sufism in 1952. The Sufism Reoriented congregation has been stable in membership at 350 for decades, said Bob Carpenter, project coordinator for the congregation. In Walnut Creek they are known for their school, the Meher school close to the present sanctuary, including preschool and day care. They have a 70-person chorus and active musical drama program.

To the Lesher hearing, the Sufis and their supporters wore oversized lapel buttons festooned with green ribbon. At one point, project coordinator Bob Carpenter asked the supporters to stand and about three-quarters of the hundreds of people in the Hofmann Theatre stood. In public hearing testimony later, project opponent Gladys Housley said she wanted to ask of those who stood in support, "How many of you live in the Saranap neighborhood? If you do not live here, you cannot fully appreciate the change or the impact this building will bring to our rural community."

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The Sufi congregation has spent about $800,000 in county fees so far in several years of the county planning process, Carpenter said. Its current sanctuary, a few hundred feet away from the new site, has no room for a library, meeting room or archive room, Carpenter said.

The highest dome in the design will be 33 feet, 6 inches above grade, approximately the height of the adjacent LeBoulevard Apartments building, Carpenter said. About two-thirds of the Sufis' building would be below grade.

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A sampling of Tuesday testimony from opponents of the project:

• Ellen Osmundsen said the project is too big. The county board should assemble a task force to examine the effect of the excavation required. She suggested Sufi leaders meet with the Saranap Homeowners Organization to come up with "a smaller design to accommodate all of your needs."

• Marilyn Arno said it's the biggest divisio she's seen in 61 years in Saranap. The project is too big, she said — larger than the White House, nearly as big as the Hearst Castle.

• Stacey Bradbury said construction will disrupt two day care facilities on Warren Road, with the excavation and construction causing families to take their children elsewhere.

• Sherilyn Fry of Warren Road operates one of those day cares. Parents come to bring their children and they look at outdoor play. With the construction, "I believe they will consider other family child care places … How will the county compensate me for my loss of income? Why won't the board act to protect us now?"

• Patricia Smayda said she moved to Saranap because of the wooded setting. She objects to all large developments. She said there are other places in Saranap where a big sanctuary could be built.

• Sylvia Deward questioned why the Sufis used a high profile architectural firm from New York "to bring a lot more people into our neighborhood than we really need." Sufis represent 5 percent of the Saranap population, she said. The excavation for the project would bring water problems to the whole neighborhood, she predicted.

• Engineer Steven Siegel said there was insufficient sight distance for a Sufi driveway to bring traffic onto Boulevard Way in a curvy, two-lane stretch with no sidewalks. It fails to meet Caltrans standards, he said.

• Dennis England said, "I've always valued the quiet nature of our neighborhood with a semi-rural atmosphere. I have fought various proposals to take away from that … We do not want to have a showcase, as this has been portrayed."

• Allan Ferguson of Warren Road said the southern entrance to the property would put people at risk. "I feel there's been no attempt to look at the traffic or impact it can have on a rural road."

• Randall Harris opposed the "clearcutting" of the project, removing oaks and replacing them with non-native trees. He said, "I am opposed to any kind of a variance for onsite parking arrangements."

A sampling of supporters:

• Colleen Thomas, who has lived in the neighborhood seven years, loves that people walk their dogs and their children and stop to say, "Hi. What's going on?" When she heard of the Sufis' faith in the goodness of the heart, she was initially skeptical, but she has since concluded "it is a phenomenal belief system."

• The Rev. Brian Stein-Webber of Contra Costa Interfaith Council endorsed the proposal, calling the Sufis "valuable partners."

• Rob Schick, a doctor at John Muir Health, likes to walk the neighborhood and feels the Sufi project will be a beautiful addition. "The route on Boulevard Way is an ugly way into Walnut Creek and this will be a beautiful improvement." He objected to the tenor of some dissent. "I don't like misrepresentation and falsehood being spread — it's clear to me there was a xenophobic atmosphere here." (Earlier in the hearing, opponent Colleen Mihelitch said the suggestion of religious bias was "a guise to take attention away from this building — it's too big.")

• Matt Isaacs of Kinney Drive recalled the blight in the neighborhood decades ago, when there used to be a former fishing trawler rotting in a lot. "This project will create a wonderful parklike atmosphere," he said. "Sufism Reoriented is bringing new life to our neighborhood."

• Bernard Schwartz of Warren Road said his part of Warren Road used to be a parking lot where trucks were loaded; "it was noisy and unsightly." When Sufism Reoriented purchased an adjacent lot, "it was transformed into a beautiful parsonage and garden" with lively Easter parties. "If we can endure the temporary construction inconvenience, I feel it will be another tremendous enhancement to our neighborhood."

• Rich Klier, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1968, said he liked the way the project will contribute to a parklike neighborhood. "I'm impressed with the quiet, thorough approach with which the sanctuary plan has been presented."

• Mary Dunne Rose noted the community divisions, saying she has friends for and against. She concluded the Sufis are an asset to the community, and felt she would "speak out against the discrimination against this organization."

• Lorraine Granit said the Sufis have already demonstrated the effectiveness of a Traffic Demand Management Program by encouraging congregation members to walk and carpool to services. 'It's not something we hope will work," Granit said. "We know it will work through actual experience." The Sufis' implementation has reduced automobile traffic by more than 52 percent, she said.

Parking

Sanford Skaggs, a Walnut Creek lawyer representing the congregation, said the experience of saving car trips with the TDM, which is encouraged by county policy, shows the Sufis will handle the load fine with 74 spaces planned. Over the last four years, the maximum number of cars parked for any worship serve was 69, Skaggs said. Once a year, there's an event that uses overflow parking at the Meher School, he said.

is a red herring, Skaggs said — the Lafayette school superintendent has consistently said "the applicant can continue to do what they've done for 30 years" using that lot, Skaggs said.

Opponents are concerned that the larger sanctuary will draw weddings, bazaars, graduation parties and concerts that will strain the planned parking, said Mark Redmond, an engineer who has lived in Saranap since 1987. He said opponents counted 199 cars parked on adjacent streets with overflow from a Halloween Party at the current sanctuary.

Resident Jim Baird suggested county planners use story poles to give people an idea of the dimensions of the domed project. "I request that you decline the application as proposed and send it back to the Planning Commission for more thorough and proper examination," he said.

Skaggs said congregation surveys showed that 84 percent of the residents within 300 feet of the project supported it.

Resident Mary Benedict, who testified against the sanctuary plan, said, "I don't know who counted that 84 percent of people who are for it. Almost every single house around has a 'Save Our Saranap' sign in it."

The project does not meet the county's land use standards, including parking provisions, said attorney Stuart Flashman, representing the Saranap Homeowners Organization and some individual residents. "The community is very willing to work with the applicant to come up with a mutually acceptable project," said Flashman.

Supervisors asked county staff for further analysis of a number of issues before the Feb. 29 continuation of the matter:

  • the number of trucks used in excavation.
  • the use of sound walls and decibel measuring during construction.
  • Caltrans sight distance requirements.
  • overflow parking.

Supervisor Gayle Uilkema, whose district includes the proposed Sufi sanctuary, did not attend the hearing, but was listening in by telephone.


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