San Diego City Council reverses stance, approves All Peoples Church project in Del Cerro

A controversial proposed church in Del Cerro was restored Tuesday night after previously being denied.

After a three-hour meeting, the San Diego City Council voted 5-4 to approve the 54,476-square-foot All Peoples Church only a year after rejecting it on land-use grounds.

Neighbors had fought against the project for years because they argued the 6-acre site would be a poor match for the new facility and create substantial traffic in their community. In January 2024, the City Council had agreed, voting down the project 6-2.

However, All Peoples Church sued the city two months after the vote, citing religious discrimination. It claimed the city violated its First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly and the free exercise of religion.

After the vote was read Tuesday, All Peoples Church Pastor Robert Herber fell to his knees and prayed. He had tears in his eyes as he told The San Diego Union-Tribune how he felt a higher power was at work.

“Only God could do something this wonderful. We just really want to be great neighbors to the city and show them we really love this community and want to work with them over the next decades,” Herber said.

More than 100 people packed the council chambers, with most speaking out against the project. They held signs that said “Same Project Same Problems,” “No Means, No” and other signs calling the development “mega.” Proponents held blue signs that said “Yes! I support the Light Project,” which is what the church calls the new facility.

The proposed 54,476-square-foot church building will be near the College Avenue off-ramp from Interstate 8 — which neighbors describe as a traffic nightmare. Plans call for a 900-seat sanctuary, a multipurpose room with a basketball court, and second-floor classrooms and staff offices.

The project also includes a two-level, 71,010-square-foot parking garage with 203 spaces just north of the church building and 116 surface spots along College Avenue. A new intersection with a traffic signal would be installed at the church’s primary entrance. Herber said he was unsure when construction would begin.

Started in 2008 by Herber, All Peoples Church is a non-denominational Christian church with a congregation of about 850 adults and children.

In late 2017, the church purchased the irregularly shaped property, which abuts single-family homes, at 5555 College Ave. All Peoples Church then went through the process of amending the Navajo Community Plan to allow church use on land zoned for residential use.

For years, neighbors fought the project as out of place in their community and claimed the church’s traffic estimates were likely much lower than what would be the reality.

The church argued in its lawsuit that the city had violated the federal Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act. The law is designed to protect individuals and religious institutions from discrimination in zoning, and prohibits government entities from imposing a “substantial burden” on churches.

A neighborhood group that opposes the project, Save Del Cerro, was dismayed to be back in the City Council chambers more than a year after the project was voted down. It argued the project was in an unsafe location, and some were resentful a lawsuit had brought the issue back.

Joseph Ney, a 23-year resident of Del Cerro, told the council that the lawsuit’s claim that the city had violated the First Amendment rights of All Peoples Church was incorrect. He argued no one said the church couldn’t worship somewhere else.

“Nowhere in the First Amendment is there any language that makes reference as to where that free exercise applies,” Ney said.

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said the city may not succeed in court, costing taxpayer money.

“While it may seem like no big deal to say we will fight this to the ends of the Earth,” he said, “there are real costs associated with that. Libraries will have to be shuttered, and there will be services that we will need to make really difficult decisions about.”

Elo-Rivera, along with Councilmembers Joe LaCava, Henry Foster, Kent Lee and Vivian Moreno, voted to approve the project. Councilmembers Jennifer Campbell, Stephen Whitburn, Marni von Wilpert and Raul Campillo voted no. LaCava and Moreno were the only members to change their votes from the previous year, and Foster had yet to be elected.

Campbell was defiant that the lawsuit would not change her vote.

“The property involved is difficult,” she said. “It is surrounded by busy, high-traffic roads. The only reason this item has returned is because of the threat of litigation. I will not bend to this coercion.”

Some people who opposed approval argued the church already had a new facility.

Attorney Dan Dalton, representing the church, said it purchased a facility in La Mesa last year but it is only about one-fifth the size it needs.

“The current facility does not meet the religious needs of the church,” Dalton said.

The church was supported by members of Carpenters Union Local 619 who said construction of the new facility would create good-paying union jobs.

All Peoples Church and the city are still set to meet Wednesday to discuss the lawsuit in an informal conference in U.S. District Court. It is likely the lawsuit will now be scrapped.