The 80-year-old Neighborhood Congregational Church in Laguna Beach is struggling. On a recent Sunday morning, a graying group of just about 30 convened beneath the mahogany beams of a Mediterranean Revival-style sanctuary.
“Like many mainline Protestant congregations across the country, we have experienced declining membership and also stagnant – if not declining – financial resources,” says Pastor Rod Echols.
It’s a very progressive church, affiliated with the United Churches of Christ. There’s a cross on the altar, alongside a statue of the Buddha and Hindu god Ganesh. A keyboardist leads the congregation in a rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
Now the open-minded church just blocks from the beach is imagining a new future for itself – one that aligns with that progressive mission.
Two historic sanctuary buildings will be demolished, and in their place, the church will construct a new, smaller spiritual center, where the congregation will continue to meet.
On the majority of the one-acre campus, they’ve proposed building the city’s first new affordable housing complex in decades.
It’s a revenue opportunity and chance for the community-minded church to practice what it preaches.
“I think about all my teachers who pushed me to expand my spirituality beyond just a simple Christian way of thinking,” says Echols, addressing his congregation. “To seek after a community of people who wanted to do more than just talk about justice, but actually do justice: affordable housing in Laguna Beach.”
The main sanctuary at Laguna Beach’s Neighborhood Congregational Church was built in the 1960s and seats 220. If the church’s plan is approved, the building will be demolished to make way for affordable housing. Photo credit: Aaron Schrank/KCRW.
The church’s bold affordable housing plan is taking shape now because of a new California law known as SB4, which streamlines permits and overrides local zoning restrictions for faith communities building affordable housing. It guarantees more predictable timelines and less community input.
“We started this process many years ago,” says Echols. “It just so happens that SB4 fell into our laps, which presents an opportunity to really expedite the process for affordable housing.”
The project aims to provide housing for those earning between $25,000 and $100,000 a year –– working people who are being priced out of town.
“It's not just about the funding,” says Echols. “It's also about the hearts, the minds, the generations that will be provided a chance to have a place for themselves and for their families.”
The average monthly rent in Laguna Beach these days is $2,700 for a one-bedroom apartment.
That’s unsustainable for Elizabeth McGhee, an artist who has lived in Laguna Beach since 2010.
“Right now, I would say my rent burden is close to 60 or 70%, but it's a fee that I pay for living in town,” she says.
She lives –– and makes oil paintings –– in a small studio apartment, but she’s being evicted.
“I've had a very sympathetic landlord for the last eight years, but he is now selling my place,” says McGhee. “And so I have no idea what'll happen.”
Stories like hers inspired the church to take action.
Laguna Beach artist Elizabeth McGhee works on an oil painting. She also has a job at the local art supply store, and teaches art. Despite her many income streams, McGhee is severely rent-burdened and facing displacement. Photo credit: Ron Azevedo.
Across Southern California, a few dozen religious institutions are now using SB4 to develop affordable housing on their land –– from Inglewood First United Methodist Church to the non-denominational Jewish congregation Ikar.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese announced plans to begin developing affordable housing across the city through a new nonprofit.
Consultant Andre White of Pasadena’s Mitchelville Real Estate Group has advised more than 100 religious groups considering building affordable housing in Southern California, and says many are shrinking congregations looking to be good stewards of their land.
“When I think of cities 150 years ago, the church was a cornerstone of a neighborhood being built,” says White. “They have so much property because they were a seven-day-a-week institution. These churches have dying populations, are losing membership, but they have a lot of great real estate in interesting locations.”
Religious institutions own a lot of Southern California land: 700 developable sites in Orange County, and 3,000 across LA County, according to a report from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation.
A Los Angeles Planning Department staff report estimates that 76% of sites owned by faith-based institutions citywide may be eligible for redevelopment under SB4. Many churches (and nonprofit colleges) are on lands where local zoning codes typically prohibit multifamily housing.
The new law requires religious institutions to contract with qualified housing developers. The Neighborhood Congregational Church plans to lease its land to real estate developer Related California, which will build and manage the affordable housing units. The same developer built Laguna’s last new affordable housing complex, back in 2004.
SB4 is a game-changer for churches, but Related California CEO Bill Witte believes the law’s overall impact on housing across California will be minimal.
“I give the state credit for trying in as many ways as possible to encourage, enable, and expedite affordable housing,” says Witte. “But those who are concerned on the other side should not assume there is automatically going to be this huge surge of church-sponsored affordable housing.”
Neighborhood Congregational Church members gather after their Sunday Service for snacks and fellowship. Today, the historic congregation has just 57 members -- and even fewer in regular attendance. Photo credit: Aaron Schrank/KCRW.
While there’s no formal project application yet, Laguna Beach’s Neighborhood Congregational church has been trying to line up millions in grant funding from the city and state.
To that end, they produced a conceptual design, published in May in a city staff report. It depicted a 72-unit complex: three stories plus underground parking.
Neighbors reacted immediately.
“Wow, that's like having a Costco literally across the street from your home,” says neighbor Korlan Buxton.
“It's too big,” says Lisa Barreth, who lives down the street. “How do you manage something so big in such a small area?”
From the deck of Barreth’s $4 million home, you can see a small blue strip of the Pacific Ocean on the horizon, just beyond the church.
“Obviously you can see I have a beautiful ocean view pretty much from anywhere in my home,” says Barreth. “It's not a big slice, but it's my slice.”
If a three-story affordable housing complex is built on the church property, as currently planned, Barreth says, that slice will disappear.
“We live at the beach, we enjoy our views, knowing that the city's always going to have our back. And whatever's built, they always preserve the view,” says Barreth. “So this is new to Laguna –– something coming in that is kind of destructive and so, what do you do?”
Barreth and her neighbors got hundreds of people to sign an online petition opposing the project. They raised thousands of dollars and made yard signs –– which now dot the neighborhood.
A local resident displays a yard sign opposing plans for affordable housing at Laguna Beach’s Neighborhood Congregational Church. The signs are now visible throughout the neighborhood. Photo credit: Aaron Schrank/KCRW.
The pushback to the project isn’t just about views and home values. Residents’ worries include traffic congestion, parking shortages, and the planned closure of a popular Montessori school.
“There are two historic buildings that will be demolished, which is very sad because that doesn't happen in this town, plus a school that's been there 50 years,” says Karen Lagrew, a Laguna Beach resident who grew up across the street from the church. “It just worries me that it sets a precedent for other things in Laguna happening like this. If this works, then what are they going to tear down next?”
Neighbors say they’re okay with housing, but not at the size currently proposed.
“We accept that we should have some affordable housing here, just on a smaller scale,” says Buxton. “It doesn't matter what the target population is. Seventy-two units, 200-plus of anybody is too much for this neighborhood.”
The state mandates that Laguna Beach –– population 22,000 –– build 277 new affordable housing units in the next five years. The church’s project wouldn’t be open until 2028.
Neighbors created this speculative rendering of the affordable housing complex -–– based on a conceptual design published in May. Church leaders are urging neighbors to wait for a formal project application to be submitted this fall before drawing more conclusions. Photo courtesy Korlan Buxton.
The Neighborhood Congregational Church plans to submit its application this fall, and the city will have 90 days to take action. In the meantime, church leaders launched a website to inform the public of their affordable housing plans.
Under SB4, the church isn’t required to consider community input, but Pastor Echols says they’re committed to hearing every concern.
“We’ve been a part of the fabric of the community for 80 years,” says Echols. “We want to stick around here for the next 80 years. We want to be really good neighbors, and so it's our intention to really honor that commitment in the design that we present.”
After Sunday service, congregants mill around chatting and enjoying refreshments on the patio. Pastor Rod hands out copies of the book The Courage To Be Disliked.
It’s courage the congregation might need.