Church's plan to build low-income housing draws ire of neighbors

Nicole Poole, of Abbey Road, addresses a crowd of concerned neighbors at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church as Senior Warden Daniel Vaughn looks on. Photo by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY — Plans by a local church to build a housing development for foster kids and homeless families has caused an uproar with neighbors and city officials alike.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church, with the Abbey Road nonprofit organization, is eying a project that would see the demolition of its school building and fellowship halls, and the construction of a 60-unit building to house transition-aged foster youth, small families impacted by homelessness, and low-income individuals and families in its back parking lot.

The school has been closed since 2020 due to a combination of financial, enrollment and maintenance issues.

According to Daniel Vaughn, Senior Warden at St. Mark’s, no plans have been finalized or submitted to the city, though he says the idea “has been percolating” since 2017. Vaughn says the church “stumbled upon Abbey Road.”

“We contacted them, and they said, ‘Well, that’s exactly what we do, we come in, we build low-cost housing,’” said Vaughn. “They have several projects, one that we visited in North Hollywood. I think they have two in the Lancaster area, and they have others.”

Vaughn said that the church “liked what we heard,” but still reached out to a couple of different contractors “to do our due diligence.” The church ultimately signed a memorandum of understanding with Abbey Road (MOU).

“Abbey Road came in, gave a presentation to the whole parish, and talked about what the process would be like and what they do, which for us was key,” said Vaughn. “In essence, we lease them the land. The length of time has not been determined; we haven’t gotten this far. We only signed an MOU with them, and the MOU simply states that during the, I believe it’s six months, maybe nine months, that during that time they will start getting their plans, start trying to find their funding, and in the meantime, we promise not to go try and find another contractor.”

According to Vaughn, it will be at least three years before any construction takes place. Still, he says “nothing is set in stone.”

Flyers were sent out to surrounding neighbors inviting them to what was called a “community outreach meeting” last Thursday, drawing a larger and fiercer response than St. Mark’s and Abbey Road were initially anticipating.

Many in attendance were visibly and audibly concerned – if not outright angry – about the project, voicing concerns about safety, parking, and the effect the development would have on the surrounding property values.

Doris Morejon is a realtor who lives next door to the church. She said “This is our backyard.”

“My concerns are that on its face, this project seems like it’s a great project, but unfortunately these are very big companies, with big agendas, with big salaries, and I feel like the help is really not going to reach the people that need the help the most,” said Morejon. “I am very disappointed in this church, because being a church - and I know that they have a lot of deferred maintenance in this church, and that they have a lot of issues managing their money – but I wish they wouldn’t further make more bad decisions on top of bad decisions they’ve made in the past that are going to affect this community forever.”

Penny Watson, also a realtor living next door to the church, said she was “very concerned about the property values.” She implied that the church and Abbey Road had not been as transparent as suggested in regards to the flyers they sent out prior to Thursday’s meeting.

“The actual mailing was very sporadic,” said Watson. “They said [they sent it to everyone within] 500 feet, but it looked like junk mail.”

Morejon said she threw her notice away, mistaking it for junk mail.

Another neighbor, Ralph Peck, said “this is not the place to do this.”

“They’re talking a three-story building here in the middle of our residential properties, towering over all of our houses, looking in our backyards,” said Peck. “These people are going to be wandering up and down our streets; I don’t know if they’re drug addicted or what, but this is not the place to do this.”

Vaughn expressed disappointment with the reaction, saying that the purpose of the meeting was “to provide information.”

“We felt that they didn’t give us much of a chance to explain our plans. They were not there to listen, they were there to attack,” said Vaughn. “I was very discouraged at just how closed a lot of those people were.”

The meeting also angered Councilwoman Claudia M. Frometa, whom represents the district in which the church resides. Frometa called the meeting “irresponsible,” adding that the city had not been made aware of the project.

“It is irresponsible to be conducting a meeting to discuss future plans on this site, particularly involving a homeless transitional housing center there, across the street from OLPH School without the city’s knowledge and/or involvement,” said Frometa. “I’m disappointed informal flyers are circulating regarding this proposal without any notification or communication with the city or its representatives. This is not how we go about doing business in Downey.

“Churches are not exempt from following city plans, approvals and processes, especially relating to a homeless transitional housing.”

Both St. Mark’s and Abbey Road refuted this claim, saying it is untrue that the city was not made aware of the project.