After various revisions, the Anthem Chapel church construction project is moving  forward. 

The Goleta Design Review Board unanimously voted on Tuesday to recommend the church’s construction project to the city’s Planning Commission, which includes building new facilities for Anthem Chapel and site improvements for Christ Lutheran Church. 

“I think that this will stand the test of time in terms of being a nice structure that is going to be on this site and a part of the community,” board member Scott Branch said.  

Board member Martha Degasis recused herself, citing a financial conflict.

The project proposes to split an existing lot at 6595 Covington Way, near Rancho La Patera and Stow House between Anthem Chapel and Christ Lutheran Church.

Christ Lutheran Church’s sanctuary and other facilities already operate on a portion of the land.

The other portion, which is undeveloped, would go to Anthem Chapel, according to Goleta senior planner Brian Hiefield. The church plans to build a 6,512-square-foot sanctuary, a 13,554-square-foot, two-story education building, recreation areas and 117 parking spaces.

A majority of the board members liked the project’s revisions, and board members Dennis Whelan and Tamesha Schumacher suggested changing the roof color to a dark green.

“It would be really beautiful and would help (the building) be more discrete from the street, which I appreciate that, too, how it is discrete from Los Carneros (Road),” Schumacher said. 

The proposed sanctuary is estimated to seat 500 people, and the education facility could serve up to 110 children, the congregation and surrounding neighborhood, according to the city staff report.

The project would give New Anthem Church a much-needed home, church members told the board on Tuesday, allowing them to leave Goleta Valley Junior High School, where they currently meet. 

“Our church is homeless,” Janine Dorn said. “Setting up and taking down the kids’ areas each Sunday is quite burdensome.”

The project has gone before the Goleta Design Review Board multiple times and left with various recommendations after criticism of the lack of spiritual design, concerns regarding the neighboring monarch butterfly habitat and compatibility between the two proposed buildings.

Tuesday’s meeting was meant to show the revised project with solutions addressing board member and resident concerns. 

The project developers made the buildings shorter and smaller, and split the originally proposed one building into two, according to Steve Welton, project consultant with SEPPS Land Use Consulting.

“Some people may call (the design) a modern farmhouse feel which harkens back to your first design but is still a lot more recognizable as a place of worship,” Schumacher said. 

Additionally, the project team removed access to the church off of Covington Way to reduce impact on the neighbors by pushing the building “as far back into the corner” so it will be “less impactful” for neighbors driving by the site. 

In the past, board members and neighbors also raised concerns about the project’s impact on the nearby monarch butterfly environmentally sensitive habitat area. 

However, Welton said the project will be “a net benefit” to the environment as the current monarch butterfly environmentally sensitive habitat area buffer is just gravel. 

The project proposes restoring and enhancing the monarch butterfly buffer by planting native and butterfly appropriate plants and also wants to reduce the monarch butterfly environmentally sensitive habitat area buffer from 100 feet to 50 feet, according to the city staff report. 

Welton said after consulting with local butterfly expert Charis van der Heide that she concluded that the request for a reduced buffer was appropriate for the project.

He also said construction will not take place when butterflies are in the area, adding that there haven’t been butterflies there for years because of the decades-long population decline. 

However, Goleta resident Christopher Jerde said that just because there hasn’t been butterflies at that site recently doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be an effort to bring them back.

“We need a space if they are ever going to return,” he said. 

Board members were appreciative of project staff for taking their recommendations seriously. 

The project’s redesign also addressed concerns from neighbors about parking, traffic and noise impacts to the area. 

The entrance to the sanctuary, which is typically where all the noise and congregation occurs, was moved to the back side of the building, which will minimize any impact on the neighbors, according to Michael Holliday, principal architect with DMHA.

However, some neighbors said they didn’t think the revisions solved their concerns.

Longtime Goleta resident Carter Morgan raised a concern about safety with increased traffic and parking on the street on Tuesday. 

However, Welton said the project will have traffic monitors to ensure that circulation keeps going and to encourage churchgoers to park in the lot. 

Holliday also said the more than 100 parking spaces will serve the surrounding community on days when there is no church service.

The project’s next stop is Goleta’s Planning Commission, where it will review the board’s recommendations at a later date.