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October 12, 2004

A handsome 9,975-square-foot structure adjacent to the sanctuary in the Larch Avenue parking lot…one-fourth of the building will be a new large gathering hall, divisible into two rooms, to host receptions, meetings and social events…a collection of five classrooms and office/resource room will support our religious education programs…plus a kitchen, storage rooms and support spaces…and a beautiful courtyard for contemplation and camaraderie.

The Race is Won
................................. Almost.

St. Monica responded graciously to neighbor and town leader concerns. Architects redesigned the original structure to reduce the height and reconfigure the building to reduce the mass facing the nearest neighbors by 40%. Landscaping, a new fence and sound wall were added to the design plans.

The downsizing, flattening, enhancing, landscaping and reconfiguring has added to the original cost of the project.

The St. Monica community has generously contributed $3.5 million to the PEACe campaign to date.

The readjusted estimate for project design, construction and sitework, tests and inspections, furnishings and fees, contingency and maintenance allowance, is $4.7 million. That leaves St. Monica with a shortfall of $1.2 million.

Today begins the final sprint to the finish line. It is in sight. It will be reached. We call upon all who will be served by the PEACe building, whose children will enjoy the benefits of quality space and state-of-the-art facilities, who care about the future of the Parish and its commitment to congregation and community, to give generously – again, or for the first time – to turn this dream into reality.

Those who previously offered term donations may wish to extend the life of their annual gifts by one or two years. Those who may have been uncertain about the viability of the project and thus hesitant to give may now be assured:

We Will Build PEACe

Our goal is to raise the required funds by the end of 2004. That will mean a celebration and groundbreaking next spring, when the seeds of our future will be planted.

Let’s complete the final mile together. As we share in the journey, so will we share in the joy of our achievement. Together, We Build PEACe.

September 7, 2004

It's official!

The St. Monica Parish Education and Activities Center is permitted to be - and will be - built

Culminating a six-year design, application and review process, the Moraga Town Council on August 25 rejected the last appeals of church neighbors and upheld the decisions of the Planning Commission and the Design Review Board to let PEACe proceed.

The first shovel of dirt could be turned next spring. PEACe could be open for business in spring 2006.

When Council members Mike Majchrzak, Dale Walwark, Jerry Karney and Lori Landis voted 4-0 at about 9:15 p.m. to approve the PEACe project, the 100-plus members of the Parish in attendance in the Joaquin Moraga School Auditorium breathed a collective sigh of relief. Among the joyous high-fivers were Father Paul Minnihan, newest convert to this ambitious project, and his predecessor, Cath McGhee, who was there when the idea first germinated back in 1998.

"This pilgrimage hasn't made us tired," Father Paul told the Council. "It has made us strong."

Parishioner Steven Doctors of the Building Committee once again provided the bulk of the testimony at the public hearing, challenging two appellants' claims that the PEACe project would block neighbor views, increase noise and parking, and lower property values. He also deflected criticism that St. Monica did little to work with the neighborhood.

"We have done all that we can," he said, following his recitation of a detailed list of letters, meetings and conferences with neighbors over the past two-plus years. "We have downsized, enhanced, flattened, landscaped, and reconfigured, at tremendous expense to our parishioners, to be responsive. We are ready to proceed with this project. Allow us, at long last, to proceed."

And they did, with enthusiasm.

"I appreciate the time and effort that the church put in," said Landis. "You reduced the impact immensely. Not everyone can be 100 percent happy, but you (put in) the appropriate effort and willingness. And I like the new design."

"The church has reached out (to neighbors) and has met all the ordinances," added Karney. "I have to approve it."

So St. Monica will get its sleek 9,975-square-foot all-purpose center, complete with classrooms for youth education, a large multi-purpose meeting room, and an attractive courtyard. From their appeals, the neighbors will get additional landscaping and fencing, a sound wall, and a structure with 40 percent less building mass facing them.

"We don't have a space problem," Father Paul had told the council. "We ARE a space problem." The PEACe center, he noted, will provide much-needed permanent meeting space for St. Monica ministries, most importantly the hundreds of children who seek religious education in an attractive social setting. "What message are we sending to our youth?" he asked. "This will tell them they are a vital part of our community."

Also offering comments on behalf of the Parish at the hearing were Colleen Lund, Marjorie Banducci, Perry Carter, Kim Stevens, Dan Hagan, and McGhee, who Minnihan referred to as "our great and strong advocate."

And so, after the hours and hours of discussions, meetings, form-filing, testimony and volunteer perseverance - not to mention the generosity of the parish community - St. Monica has the go-ahead to build its activities center. There is still work to be done -more approvals from the design review board for landscaping and building permits from the County - but the biggest hurdle has been cleared. And in this Olympic year, that probably deserves a Gold Medal.

July 20, 2004

Moraga Commission Gives PEACe OK to Move On

St. Monica's long-awaited Parish Education and Activities Center (PEACe) took another step toward reality on July 19 when the Moraga Planning Commission rejected neighbor appeals to halt or revisit the project. In a 5-1 vote following a nearly three-hour hearing at Joaquin Moraga auditorium, the commission endorsed the Design Review Board's earlier approval, with a few minor changes.

Once again, the St. Monica faithful turned out, the more than 100 advocates of PEACe nearly filling the room and several of them speaking in favor of the project during a public comment period. Father Paul Minnihan, who told the commissioners that he brought "all of 40 days" experience as Pastor to the discussion, said the project "is essential to our mission. It is vital." He pointed out that the people of Moraga will also benefit from an "organic" relationship with the new center. "The need is real, and the need is now," he told them.

The commissioners agreed, but not until perhaps a half-dozen neighbors from Roberts Court and Larch Avenue expressed their concerns about issues such as increased traffic, noise, inadequate parking, loss of a buffer between church and neighborhood, impact on the scenic corridor, and obstructed views. Some wanted more mitigations, others wanted a complete resiting.

In the end, only one commissioner, Ken Chew, sided with the opponents. With the chairman of the commission, John Carey, recusing himself from the discussion and vote due to his membership at St. Monica, five of his colleagues approved the design, with the added request for increased foliage around the parking lot and new building.

Next stop in the PEACe center's six-year journey to reality is a hearing before the Moraga Town Council, to be scheduled on either August 11 or 25 in the Joaquin Moraga Auditorium. The project's neighbor appellants may use that forum, too, to express their views. This will be the final step in the town's approval process, after which St. Monica can proceed to apply for a building permit for its 9,900-square-foot addition.

Steven Doctors again led the presentation for St. Monica, flipping through architect's renderings and capturing point-by-point church responsiveness to citizen and town concerns. "We have responded to mitigate their concerns at considerable cost to our parishioners," he noted to the commission. Those responses included reducing the overall size of the building - including the mass facing the neighbors by 40 percent - adding a stucco sound wall, and adding more tree plantings and landscaping at the property line.

He also addressed the suggestion by some neighbors that the Larch Avenue entrance to the church parking lot be replaced by a new intersection connecting St. Monica directly with De La Cruz Avenue, across Canyon Drive. "There is no evidence to support such a change," Doctors said. "There are no traffic or safety issues (now), and unwarranted concern about the future traffic situation."

Reminding them that PEACe will basically alleviate current overcrowding and thus not generate more traffic or additional parking needs, Doctors also introduced traffic engineer Steve Abrams, who echoed the view that an additional entrance and turn lane on Canyon would increase risk and would violate current standards for distances between driveways.

After lengthy discussion about parking, traffic flow, and impact of the new building on property values, the commissioners concluded that the St. Monica design met the four criteria for approval - good design, no substantial adverse impacts on neighboring property, no negative impact on property values, and no impairment of public health, safety and welfare.

Commissioner Richard Brown summed it up just prior to the final vote: "The church has done almost everything possible to work this thing (with the neighbors). I feel, without any hesitation, that this project should go forward."

And with that, he and his colleagues were showered with the applause of a grateful audience.

May 5, 2004

St. Monica Clears Two More Hurdles on Road to PEACe

A large, attentive crowd, most of them St. Monica parishioners, turned out Monday night (May 3) to see two Moraga town commissions formally endorse the church's proposed Parish Education and Activities Center (PEACe). By the time the four-plus-hour meeting ended at Joaquin Moraga School, the town's Planning Commission had approved St. Monica's request for a conditional use permit to construct the new building, and the Design Review Board approved, with a few contingencies, the building's design.

Then the clock began on a 10-day appeal filing period, during which project opponents can request new hearings - for the use permit, an appeal to the Moraga Town Council, and for the design, an appeal to the Planning Commission. Given the criticism voiced by several immediate neighbors Monday night, especially residents of Roberts Drive, such appeals are possible.

But it was a good night for PEACe, and the nearly 150 supporters in the audience were thankful that the project, almost six years in the making, is much closer to reality. St. Monica Pastoral Administrator Cath McGhee and Project Manager Steven Doctors presented persuasive arguments in favor of the project, and four of the six planning commissioners agreed. Bruce Whitley called it a "beautiful design," and Michael Metcalf praised the church for having submitted a redesign that honestly addressed the earlier concerns of town and neighborhood, in terms of building size and available parking.

The Commission voted 4-2 in favor of the project moving forward, contingent upon the church submitting a revised landscaping plan and inclusion of a sound barrier for mitigation at the rear of the building.

As the clock approached midnight, the Design Review Board concluded its hour-long analysis with a 4-1 approval vote, also contingent upon a revised landscaping plan, sound barrier, signage redesign, and reconfiguration of the planned above-ground transformer location.

The current PEACe center design is a 9,975-square-foot structure that was reduced in both mass and height in response to concerns expressed by neighbors a year ago about the original plans. One-fourth of the building will be a new gathering hall, and the rest a collection of five classrooms, storage rooms, office areas, kitchen and support functions. A courtyard will connect PEACe with the sanctuary building. The current design includes 40 percent less building mass facing the nearest neighbors and a significantly reduced height, Doctors told the two committees and Moraga planning staffers, together for an unusual joint session.

"This will bolster the family-friendly character of the town and contribute to its beauty," he said. "It will also increase property values in the area."

Several neighbors, however, were not convinced and expressed their concerns about the building's location, anticipated increases in traffic and parking, and declines in real estate values. Countering these views were a series of testimonials from church members about the need for the activities center - including Youth Ministry coordinator Carrie Rehak, religious education teacher Kim Stevens, and Seniors program chairman Jim Hamilton.

In response to the suggestion by some critics that St. Monica had not adequately taken into account the neighbors' concerns, Father Declan Deane pointed out "the tremendous care that both Cath (McGhee) and volunteers have taken to respond, spending hours and money to acceed to the neighbors' interests." And most of the commissioners and board members agreed. Lori Salamack, Moraga's chief planner, said she was "astonished at the degree of changes that came back to us" in the new plan following a meeting between church officials and neighbors. "For staff, (we feel) they have entered the approval realm (with the new design)."

McGhee earned a long ovation for her impassioned statements to the two boards, as she reviewed the church's history and cited the growth of programs that has made the PEACe project such a high priority. Describing the "tedious" journey to decide what was needed, she recalled a space consultant's report that called St. Monica "space-deprived," especially for classroom and gathering activities.

"It used to be 'pay, pray and obey' in the early days," she said. "We weren't expected to talk to one another. But community has become very important to us. Membership has not increased over recent years, but our outreach and teaching programs have increased. We need space to meet the needs."

Assuring the officials that traffic and parking would not increase with the addition of PEACe, McGhee added, "Our architects (Fee, Munson and Ebert) have created a space that meets our needs, is environmentally sensitive, and is visually appealing."

So now the money is raised, the project has initial town approval, and a few design features will be revised to accommodate officials' concerns. When the first shovel of dirt will be turned to begin building PEACe in the north parking lot will depend upon the eventual acceptance of those revisions, and the nature and resolution of possible appeals.