Update on Sale of Campus

Preliminary plan
submitted to city

By Mathew Morgan

DESIGN PRESENTATION—Bernie
Schnippert, church treasurer, addresses
Pasadena residents in the Ambassador
Auditorium, Feb. 13. [Photos by Thomas C. Hanson]

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS—Development
team answers questions from Pasadena residents.

DEVELOPMENT TEAM—From left:
Christy McAvoy (Historic Resources Group);
Viggen Davidian (Meyer, Mohaddes & Associates);
Bernie Schnippert (WCG treasurer); Bob Yoder
(SheaHomes); Jan Van Tilburg (Van Tilburg,
Banvard & Soderbergh); and Steve Kellenberg (EDAW).

PASADENA—The church submitted predevelopment plan review (PPR) documents to the city Jan. 21. The PPR submittal is a required step in the entitlement process. City staff must respond in writing within 30 days with comments and recommendations.

The design team will then use the recommendations, which were due Feb. 13, to further refine the plan and prepare the master application, which is the next important entitlement step. We anticipate the master application will be submitted in March.

The church and its consultants conducted a design presentation Feb. 13 in Ambassador Auditorium to share the latest plans for the Ambassador campus with interested Pasadena citizens. About 300 people attended to view a PowerPoint presentation followed by a question and answer session.

The plan presented was about the same plan submitted to the city in the PPR documents mentioned above. This is the fourth public meeting conducted where the public has been able to share in the process. Three previous open houses took place in October, November and December to receive ideas and share preliminary plans.

To date, church officials have attended more than 40 listening/design-sharing meetings allowing more than 1,700 people to share in the design process. To learn more about the Ambassador campus plan visit the website at www. ambassadorcampus.info

The sale of two small out-parcels (parcels of land not part of the main development) closed Jan. 22 and Feb. 14. The parcels are located just north of the Hall of Administration and just east of the former Imperial Schools campus. A third out-parcel just south of the former Ambassador College campus is being marketed. We anticipate the sale of this third parcel will be complete in April.

We receive questions from church members about the entitlement and sale process. Starting in my last update, I began to answer these questions in an effort to keep you informed as important stakeholders. Following are additional questions and answers.

Why all the community meetings? Doesn’t this slow down the entitlement and sale process?

The church owns about 48 acres of land in a prime area of Pasadena and has been a part of the community for more than 50 years. Citizens of Pasadena have grown to love and appreciate the beautifully landscaped campus with its historic buildings, gardens and the Ambassador Auditorium, and naturally are concerned about what the future holds for this elegant property.

In addition, many want to live in the new community being built. They wish to stay informed and participate because a change of this kind affects not only the church’s neighbors, who wonder what they will see out their windows when the new community is built, but the city at large.

For this reason, it is in the church’s best interest to collaborate and share the process with the citizens of Pasadena. If the church did not involve others, it would likely encounter more opposition that would slow the process down in the critical stages. The final decision makers who must approve the new development are elected officials who represent the citizens of Pasadena. So, although it takes time, effort and money to involve a larger group, in the end it may actually save both time and money because of the consensus built along the way.

In addition to the collaborative community process mentioned above, the City of Pasadena has a mandated development process in place that takes a great deal of time. Pasadena is a beautiful city because it has a planning process that is careful, methodical and involves many citizen commissions, special interest groups and political decision makers. As with any city process, it has its imperfections and is influenced by politically charged issues.

In addition, a 48-acre development is much larger than most city planners and political decision makers have faced. The size of the development alone creates new issues that must be worked through. We wish it was much simpler, but we must operate within this complex and sometimes frustrating environment to achieve a result that is best for the church. Your prayers are appreciated.

The Ambassador campus is the largest physical asset the church owns. Sale of the property will allow the church to refocus this under-used asset on its mission. The board of directors has a fiduciary responsibility to make careful decisions that are in the best interest of the church. Walking away from this property would not be a good decision for the church.

Although the maintenance and sale of the property do not provide the same joy as bringing people to Christ, the sale of this asset is a business matter to which the church must attend. Unlocking this asset will ultimately help the church better preach the gospel of Jesus and care for the flock in the future.

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2003