As most of you know, Anthem Chapel is proposing a new church next to the existing Christ Lutheran Church at the corner of Los Carneros Rd. and Covington Way. There has been a lot of speculation about what our new church will be like. We hope to clarify some things with this letter.

Better Than Outdoor Church During Covid 

• During Covid, church was held under a tent at the property, which had limitations on what we could do to shield our amplified sound coming out of the tent.
• There were times when our dirt parking lot was insufficient and some parked on Covington Way and neighborhood streets.
• We had no real solution without an enclosed building and improved parking lot.

Allowed and Enforced by Minor Use Permit Design 

• Yes, this property is zoned Residential. Churches are allowed with a Minor Use Permit (MUP)
• Enforcement of specific activities is through the conditions of the City MUP.

The Real Size and Seating—5542 SF Sanctuary
 

• The MUP includes a 5542-SF sanctuary for indoor church services (less for just seating) with a total of 500 seats. This is the maximum seating but rarely would reach full capacity.  
• We determined it would be better to limit the size of the sanctuary and, if ever needed, offer additional services. That way, the number of people at church would fit the size of the church.
• No, the total 22,000 SF cannot, and will not, be used for church sanctuary seating.
• No, there are not 1800-2200 seats possible, or even the potential for this many.  The sanctuary is only large enough for 500 seats. Most of the space is for classrooms, offices and common area.
• Two of our special events include broader public attendance and we will continue to use Stow Park and Dos Pueblos High School, not our church.
• Of note, this vacant lot area was originally approved for the expansion of Christ Lutheran Church.

Parking—125 On-site Parking Spaces

• Yes, 125 parking spaces are provided, which meets and exceeds City requirements for on-site parking.
• Our parking lot will be essentially empty during the majority of week and used mostly on Sunday.
• We will have parking patrol staff for all our activities, as well as Stow House staff for their events.

Noise—No Meaningful Increase in Outdoor Noise 

• The church building has been carefully located and designed to shield church neighboring properties from amplified sound, particularly, away from Covington Way.
• Church services will be held indoors in order to meet the CNEL 65 dBA criteria/threshold.
• There will no meaningful increase in noise levels at Covington Way during services.
• We “heard you” and have eliminated project-planned outdoor events that include amplified sound.  

Traffic—Total New Los Carneros Traffic is Minimal

• Yes, there are two driveways on Los Carneros because we chose not to use Covington Way.
• Total auto trips for church are mostly on Sunday morning when traffic volumes are low.
• Total added auto trips are still at traffic service levels required by the City of Goleta.
• The preschool/day care would add to weekday morning and mid-day traffic, but we hope this would also serve local families who would be traveling to similar facilities elsewhere.
• Los Carneros has substantial excess capacity for this project and future traffic from Goleta.

Fire and Emergencies—County Fire Review 

• Santa Barbara County Fire and the City of Goleta have reviewed our proposed plans at several stages and concluded we are consistent with traffic circulation and public safety requirements.
• Any project on this property would be reviewed in the same manner.

Stow House—Mutual Benefit for Good Neighbors

• Anthem Chapel, and Christ Lutheran Church, have been good neighbors to Stow House for many years.  
• We give specific permission for Stow House to use our lot for supervised parking during events.
• We also enjoy using Stow House public facilities for a few of our own special events.
• This is a mutually beneficial relationship, not an adverse one.  
• We consulted a historian to ensure the design of our building would be consistent with the agrarian heritage of Stow Park and the orchard ranches in the region.
• Without our church parking lot, there will be no overflow parking lot for Stow House events.

ESHA Buffer—Protected and Restored

• We know the ESHA in Stow Park is important to you.  It is to us also, and we are contributing to make it better.
• Our property is only covered by the ESHA Buffer.  The 50’ and 100’ buffers partially overlap a small part of our southeast corner, the dirt parking/storage area next to the public parking lot.
• We are not building any structures within that 100’ buffer boundary.  
• We are fully restoring the 50’ buffer that will add to and enhance the actual biological resources.
• Careful design and restoration in the buffer has been recommended and supported by several biology specialists as an improvement to this edge of the ESHA.

Benefits of the Project—Some Important Things 

• Anthem Chapel currently provides church and youth services to over 300 people, kids, and families, mostly local Goleta residents, who need and want it. 
• Anthem Chapel has historically given permission to Stow House to use our lot for their event parking.  This will not be the case if a different project has to be developed on the site.
• Anthem Chapel will provide a much-needed preschool and daycare open to the public.
• Anthem Chapel will pay to restore 50’ of the ESHA buffer and convert it from a dirt parking lot to a valuable extension of the ESHA. 
• If not Anthem Chapel, there will be another project which could have greater impacts.

We want to acknowledge that a church on the edge of your neighborhood may cause some occasional disruption and minor inconvenience.  However, we hope there is room for us and appreciation of the benefits that we want to offer back to the community.

Respectfully,

Anthem Chapel