Buddhist Center Gets Reprieve : Zoning Panel Overturns Order to Close Viet Center

In the latest zoning dispute involving religious centers that serve expanding immigrant communities in the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals agreed Tuesday to allow a Vietnamese Buddhist meditation center to remain in Sepulveda.

The center, in an otherwise residential neighborhood, was created four years ago without city approval in a small house at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Turner Street. In May, an associate zoning administrator ordered it closed after hearing complaints about traffic and noise at the site.

The center, which houses four Zen Buddhist monks and one Zen Buddhist nun, is the only one serving the Vietnamese community in the San Fernando Valley. On Sundays and holidays it is a gathering place for refugees, with crowds ranging from fewer than 10 to about 70 people, according to the center’s monks.

In recent months, some of the center’s neighbors said, they have become worried that the crowds might increase as they have at Wat Thai, a Buddhist temple on Cantara Street in Sun Valley.

Decision in May

Contending that the Sepulveda neighborhood could not support the increased traffic--average weekend crowds at the Sun Valley temple now range into the hundreds--associate zoning administrator James Crisp refused in May to approve a belated request for a conditional use permit that would permit the center to operate.

On Tuesday, however, the board that heard an appeal of Crisp’s decision saw things differently. After hearing temple supporters promise not to expand their operations, board members voted 4 to 0 to overturn Crisp’s ruling.

However, the board took steps to constrict the center by ordering its operators to tear down two small buildings put up without city permits. The board also voted to eventually set limits on the number of people who may use the remaining house and on parking in the neighborhood.

Growth at Thai Temple

In 1972, another associate zoning administrator gave a group of Thai Buddhist monks permission to set up the Sun Valley center. Since then, the Thai community has poured millions of dollars into improvements on the site, building the country’s largest Thai Buddhist temple and recently gaining permission to add an elaborate school building. Neighbors of the temple have tried repeatedly to halt its growth.

Comparisons with the Sun Valley temple dominated Tuesday’s hearing at City Hall. But David Christianson, an Orange County lawyer who represents both organizations, insisted that the Vietnamese center is not likely to grow, since 14 other Vietnamese Buddhist temples already exist in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Christianson also presented petitions signed by neighbors stating that opposition to the center is isolated. He said the complaints about traffic are unfounded.

Two people spoke in opposition to the center, arguing that after-the-fact approval would set a dangerous precedent.

The board agreed to grant the permit after being told that the organizers of the center had not realized that they were operating illegally.