By Clyde Noel

Plans to rebuild and expand the Los Altos church that an arsonist destroyed last year appear to have sparked friction in the residential neighborhood where the congregation has gathered to pray over the past 40 years.

Officials from the Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer on Magdalena Avenue are seeking approval from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to rebuild their burnt church and to replace the former one-story, 4,163-square-foot social hall with a two-story, 17,852-square-foot banquet hall that will seat 380 people and accommodate a day-care center for 81 children.

The changes have some neighbors wondering if the facility’s scale is too much for their streets.

Senior Planner Gary Rudholm said the initial proposal is limited to rebuilding the church, but the county requested the entire project be reviewed at one time.

“We are concerned about parking. Especially when Phase II and Phase III are built,” said Sandy Mingia of Los Altos Hills during a county meeting May 15. “There is simply no place for overflow parking except on private streets. Parking on Magdalena is dangerous and has been forbidden in front of the church in the new plans.”

Other residents expressed concerns about potential traffic problems the proposed day-care center could cause during drop-off and pickup hours and parking in front of driveways and streets feeding into Magdalena.

Revad Katwan, member of the building committee, commented the banquet hall may be used for different occasions, including for hire.

“It is our vision to improve the facility. We had to make changes because of Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. At present we have zero funding for the (additional) facilities because the insurance money will rebuild the church,” Katwan said. “It is our dream and we have asked the Packard Foundation to help us.”

The church has raised the needed $2.1 million to rebuild the church during the past year through an outpouring of community donations and funds from its fire insurance.

The sanctuary burned in a three-alarm blaze in April 2002, that federal authorities continue to investigate as a possible hate crime against the predominantly Middle Eastern congregation.

A $141,000 federal reward has been set for information leading to the person who set the fire. The reward is one of the largest amounts offered for an arson investigation of this kind. Santa Clara County deputy sheriffs were called in to monitor a neighborhood meeting May 15. Officials said their presence was not related to the arson investigation.

“The presence of the deputy sheriffs was in order to give constituents an opportunity to directly express their concerns about speeding and safety,” said Kindel Launer, chief of staff at the office of county District 5 Supervisor Liz Kniss. “I think it’s important to put constituents together with their government. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department is the local police department in that part of unincorporated Santa Clara County.”

The County Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing 1:30 p.m., June 5, to consider modification of the existing use permit and mitigating the negative declaration for the existing church site, the proposed rebuilding and the expansion.