New parking lot in works

By: AARON CLAVERIE - The Californian
Relief expected for growing number of Cornerstone parishioners | Saturday, January 12, 2008 8:28 PM PST ∞

WILDOMAR - Long-awaited relief in the form of 700 new parking spots is on the way for Cornerstone Community Church, which has been using softball fields to handle overflow traffic on weekends.

County officials said recently that the church's application to build a lot will be sent to the county Planning Commission as soon as the church addresses a couple of outstanding issues, specifically, the potential impact on Monte Vista Drive traffic and the environmental impact of the project, which will involve moving tons of dirt.

"Once all issues have been addressed, the planning department is committed to getting it to the Planning Commission as quickly as possible," said county Principal Planner Derek Hull.

The new parking lot, targeted for land near the outdoor basketball courts north of the Wildomar church's sanctuary, would boost the number of parking spaces there to about 1,000.

Cornerstone, located in the 34000 block of Monte Vista Drive, offers services for about 3,000 people on an average weekend. The church has recently been using its softball fields, which hold about 100 cars each, to accommodate its growing flock of parishioners, said Pastor Ron Armstrong, one of the church's founding pastors.

To further ease congestion, church officials and staffers have been parking off-site.

Armstrong said the parking issue is pressing for the church because it wants to avoid having churchgoers park on the edge of Monte Vista Drive, a two-lane frontage road that runs parallel to Interstate 15 between the Baxter Road and Bundy Canyon Road offramps.

"It's a safety issue," he said.

The church filed the application to build the parking lot in late 2005.

Dave Stahovich, chief of staff for county Supervisor Bob Buster, said Buster is supportive of the church's plans, but he said there's little his office can do to move the project through the county's pipelines any faster.

"It's a complicated land-use process," he said.

Mark Lefave, a 52-year-old church member, said it has been a hassle for the church to get expansion projects approved by the county, even projects as minor as a new sign.

That's one of the reasons Lefave, a Temecula resident, said Wildomar residents should support incorporation. Lefave said a city council likely will be more responsive to the needs of the church and cut down the time it takes to get something done.

Cornerstone, founded in 1992 by four families, has recently grown to include 4,500 active members.

Many of the early members were transplants from Orange County, familiar with Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest and other large churches there with memberships in the thousands, Armstrong said.

Recent growth, which has been steadily climbing each year, has been fueled by new members from Riverside and San Diego counties.

Of the new members, Armstrong said 40 percent to 50 percent haven't attended any sort of church in a "long, long time."

He said many of those new parishioners are attracted to the uptempo music that is an integral part of each service and the sermons, which take lessons from the Bible, the foundation of the church's message, and make them relevant to a modern society.

Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, email addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.