Controversial Krishna Temple Moving Forward

suchandra · February 9, 2008

Controversial Krishna temple moving forward

By: DAVID GARRICK - Staff Writer

Last modified Friday, February 8, 2008 11:03 PM PST

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/09/news/inland/21_32_582_8_08.txt

24-acre campus to include dorms, gardens ESCONDIDO ---- Nearly eight years after the City Council approved plans for a controversial Hare Krishna temple in northeastern Escondido, construction is supposed to begin this spring on the 24-acre garden campus.

The $9 million project, to be built east of Reidy Creek Golf Course on Rincon Avenue, should be completed in 2010, said Robert Morrill, director of Hare Krishna temples in Southern California.

City officials are reviewing final building and engineering plans that temple officials submitted in December, said Bill Martin, the city's principal planner. The plans call for a large church, several acres of elaborate gardens and a dormitory for monks.

</td> </tr> </tbody></table> "This is going to be something spectacular," said Morrill.

The eight-year delay was caused by the need for several environmental approvals and a city moratorium on construction projects north of El Norte Parkway and east of Broadway. The moratorium, which was in place from 2003 to 2006, was prompted by water pressure concerns that have since been alleviated, Martin said.

The council approved the project, 4-1, in June 2000 over the objections of several residents living near the vacant site. The residents had argued that the campus would bring excessive traffic into their quiet Rocky Point Ranch neighborhood. They also said the campus structures would dwarf the surrounding tract houses.

But the council majority said the city should support placing churches in neighborhoods, and that the project would be a community amenity because its many acres of elaborate gardens would be open to the public.

Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, who was part of the council majority that approved the project, said this week that the city should support churches that want to come to Escondido.

"We fundamentally support churches, and we support building them in neighborhoods," said Pfeiler, explaining that she is cautiously optimistic the temple will fit in well. "This church will provide the neighborhood with gardens and other things."

Residents of Rocky Point Ranch said this week they were surprised to hear from a North County Times reporter that construction would soon begin.

"I think it's been sort of forgotten because it was approved so long ago," said Terri Bilante. "It will be interesting to see if people start reacting again. As far as I know, no one has been talking about it at homeowners association meetings or anywhere else."

Doris Bushnell said she still opposes the project.

"It's going to bring a lot of traffic to this quiet neighborhood," said Bushnell. "And the dorms will back right up to the houses on the cul-de-sac next to the church."

Morrill said the temple will be an exemplary neighbor for Rocky Point Ranch, explaining that a large buffer area will surround the campus structures and that 10 acres on the vacant, undulating parcel will be preserved as gardens and open space.

"The whole temple will be laid out in the tradition of sacred architecture," said Morrill. "It's modeled after two of our most famous temples in India."

Hare Krishna is a branch of Hinduism that believes in reincarnation.

It will take more than a year to build the body of the temple and an additional year to cast the moldings and install the ornate design on the temple's exterior, Morrill said. Stonemasons will come from India to complete the exterior work using specially crafted rocks, he said.

The campus will also include four single-family homes that the temple will sell to help pay for the church. Long-term plans also call for a small school, said Morrill.

The new temple will alleviate overcrowding at the Hare Krishna temple in Pacific Beach, the only Krishna worship hall in the county, said Morrill. The nearest other temples are in Tijuana and Laguna Beach, he said.

The Pacific Beach facility, a former Elks Lodge that the Krishnas took over in 1977, is not large enough to comfortably fit the 500 to 700 members of the church, said Morrill. Many of the members also drive from inland North County, which can take as long as 45 minutes, he said.

"This has been the dream of hundreds of families for more than two decades," said Morrill.

Councilman Ed Gallo, who voted against the project as a member of the planning commission in 2000, said this week that the project will be "beautiful" and "iconic." But he also said the temple belongs somewhere else.

"It should not be at the end of a dead-end street," said Gallo. "It's going to draw a lot of people into an area where there's only one way out."

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.