The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Trinity Church on W. Fremont Avenue in Sunnyvale will be razed, and the congregation will move to a new location.
Trinity Church gets keys to new home
By Cody Kraatz
Trinity Baptist Church has been granted a new home in two empty office buildings at 477 N. Mathilda Ave. The Sunnyvale City Council on a 5-2 vote Nov. 20 approved a rezoning for the previously industrial-zoned site.
"I want to make an investment in the city of Sunnyvale, and I want it to pay off," said Vice Mayor Tony Spitaleri, supporting the rezoning and citing the social services the church offers and the possibility that its influence can help turn people away from crime.
"We are very relieved," said Tom Greene, chairman of the Trinity board of elders, amid hugs and pats on the back from church supporters. Many church members had shared personal stories and pleas an at October council meeting.
The church sold its previous location on W. Fremont Avenue, for a residential development and has to move out Jan. 1, 2008. If the rezoning had fallen through, the church would have had to move out of Sunnyvale because there were no other suitable properties available, and it had put in a long time betting on this site, said Greene.
The church will take about one year of design and construction to be ready.
"Most of next year we will be on the road. We're calling it a mobile church right now," said Greene, referring to the church's upcoming series of rentals in other cities.
Council members Melinda Hamilton and Ron Swegles voted against the rezoning, saying that despite the value of the church to the community, they valued consistency and further study of the Peery Park area, where the church will be located. Staff had recommended the council hold off on the rezoning.
A specific plan for the future economic development of Peery Park could take about 12 months. The area, roughly bounded by Highway 101, the western boundary of the city and Mathilda and California avenues, is considered a burgeoning biotech hotspot.
The decision came after a rehearing that the council permitted in October to allow the church's consultants, Metropolitan Planning Group, to prepare an argument for how Peery Park could develop with the church located in the area. Places of assembly and residential uses generally require a 1,000-foot buffer from businesses that use hazardous chemicals, such as biotech companies.
Investment firm RREEFF, which owns several properties near the future church and is partnered with Sand Hill Properties on the redevelopment of downtown Sunnyvale, opposed the rezoning, said Jim Ida, a RREEF vice president. He declined to elaborate, but RREEF stated in a previous letter to the council that the church could hurt investment in Peery Park.
