Center Design Complicated by Tenants Suit

Though the Concord, Calif. City Council voted 3-2 vote in August 2004 to allow Harvest Church to hold religious services inside the former Capri movie theater at the Park & Shop Center, which the church bought in 1998, four business owners in the center have sued the city, claiming the religious use is at odds with the center’s commercial zoning and general plan.

The council?EUR??,,????'???s approval was conditional on the church agreeing to defend the city against any legal challenge and pay any legal bills. The church says it wants to work with the city to fix up their end of the center.

The center is scheduled to undergo a multimillion-dollar renovation. Aside from the legal issues with the church, Park & Shop owners can?EUR??,,????'???t agree on the design for the center, although that is not part of the suit. Ross Wells, a landscape architect on the design review board, is caught in the middle, as his board has no authority in the legal squabbling.