Little Known Property Fact

Did you know that the grapefruit trees on the other side of our fence are actually on church property? Here is a shot of the trees from Leroy Road (the road that runs parallel to the fence on the north side of the property). Our property extends right up to Leroy Road.

February Milestone Report

On the last post, I talked about some of the milestones we need to pass on the way to submitting our plot plan to the county. Here is the latest update regarding those milestones:

Milestone number 1 was to meet with the senior planner. We learned enough from our case planner to make this meeting unnecessary.

The number 4 milestone is the topographical survey. This work has been completed and the architect is now working with the information to dial in the building design and overall site plan.

The geotech survey is a larger and more complex study. This job has been put out to bid and a few companies are currently doing a preliminary study to determine the scope and cost. This is milestone number 5.

The biological report is finished. YAAYY!! We can mark number 8 off the list.

Thanks to God and to you, our faithful Growing In Faith supporters, we are moving forward full steam ahead. Please keep this process in your prayers.

(For a list of milestones, scroll down to the previous post)

Milestone Report

Last week we met with the county to discuss our building project. Overall, the meeting went well and we were introduced to the case-planner that will be handling our plot plan approval process. He was very helpful to us in identifying important milestones (next steps) in the process. Here are the milestones (at least, the ones I know about) that we will have to pass on our way to plot plan submittal and approval:

1. Meeting with Senior Planner
2. Project Kickoff Meeting with architect
3. Reconfiguration of Building Design
4. Topographical Property Site Survey
5. Geotechnical Engineering Study
6. Acquire Precise Grading Plans from adjoining property owners
7. Traffic Study
8. Biology Report
9. Acoustical Study
10. Final Plot Plan Document Set Created
11. Final Plot Plan Submittal To County

While all of the milestones are important, we would like you to specifically pray about number 7. This milestone, if it is required of us, will mean a substantial extra cost. Right now it’s possible that we may be allowed to bypass this milestone, but we will need God’s help and your prayers.

January Financial Update

December was a great month for the Growing In Faith giving but in January, there was a significant decrease. As you know, every month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total January GIF giving was 5581.00. That means we were short by over $6000.00.

January GIF giving $5,581.00
Minimum to “pay bills” $12,000.00
Difference ($6,419.00)

Pray for meeting with the county

This coming Monday we’re meeting downtown with the Riverside planning department regarding the proposed plot plan for our property. Please pray for God to open the way for us to build quickly and with no unnecessary hindrances. Specifically pray that we won’t be required to do a traffic study.

Meeting with the County

As you may know, we are hoping to move forward as quickly as we can in constructing a building on our property. Our next step is to have our plot plan approved by the County of Riverside. Last week we meet with the Riverside County Planning department.

At this meeting we were introduced to the person who will be our case planner and showed them our proposed site plan. The meeting went very well. Our civil engineer got the answers he needs to move ahead with the conceptual site plan.

In a couple weeks we will meet with a senior planner who is in charge of entitlement. Entitlement is the process of having our plot plan approved. To learn more about entitlement, check out this post.

Water line is brought to our property

The water line to our property was laid. We have a 12" line. (Which apparently is a good size, at least that's what they tell us). Both the sewer and the water line have now been brought to our site. These are important steps that help us as we look forward to getting a building.

Financial Report

Every month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total December GIF giving was 19049.00! That means we had a little over $7000.00 to put toward the entitlement process. (Scroll down to find out more about the entitlement process)

December GIF giving: $19,049.00
Minimum to “pay bills”: $12,000.00
Difference: $7,049.00

Entitlement Process?

The word, “entitlement” means having a right to something. It’s a lot like permission. For us to move forward with constructing a building on our property, we need permission from the County of Riverside.

It’s this permission, or entitlement, that we are currently working on. To proceed, our first step is to have a free, informal meeting with the county planning department.

At this meeting, we will be able to share the specifics about what we are planning to do with our property and learn from the planning department about any issues, concerns, requirements, etc, that we should be attentive to in the overall design. The more we can learn during this meeting, the better prepared we will be to turn in plans that will have smooth sailing through the county process. This means less expense for us, and a shorter time period to get final approval.

We have already requested this meeting and expect to have it within the next few weeks.
Please pray that God will grant us favor with the county officials and that this meeting will be helpful in moving us forward!

Growing in Faith Update Video

This is our Growing in Faith update video we showed during Sunday's service.

Praise Report - Growing in Faith Giving for the Month December

We have a praise report! Giving toward Growing in Faith for the month of the December was $19,000. This is more than the average ($12,000 a month). This extra large amount helps make up for the previous two months in which the Growing in Faith giving was below the needed amount (only $7500). So all in all, we ended the year where we needed to be! Thanks to all who are giving to Growing in Faith.

Growing in Faith Update

We want to let you know that we are taking a fresh look at the possibility of constructing a building on our property. Here’s why:

Because of the increased value of our property, and the possibility that we could construct a smaller, starter building, we believe it may be possible to build on our property sooner than we imagined. We are busy working with the county to get more details.

We’re still gathering information, but we want to let you know so you can be praying with us.
We also want to give you a big thanks for supporting Growing in Faith. It’s your monthly Growing in Faith giving that has brought us to this point and it’s your giving that will help us move forward.

Latest Update

In the world of Growing In Faith it can seem like feast or famine.
Sometimes there is so much going on and so much to do that I can’t begin to keep up with it all. Other times there is absolutely nothing going on!

Well, guess what?
We seem to be in an in-between stage.

The company that is purchasing the parcel behind ours is preparing their building plans to submit to the county. What this means for our church is that I will be working closely with them to help insure a mutually beneficial “edge condition” (our properties share a common edge). This means that we will be attempting to make sure neither site plan poses an imposition or difficulty for the adjoining property owner.

In addition to this, our church has been contacted by the owner of the property at the other end of ours regarding the building he is preparing to construct. He is still interested in leasing to us and said that he hoped to have some solid costs worked out within a couple of weeks. He wants to meet at that time and discuss a potential lease in detail.

As Growing In Faith activity ramps up, we really need your faithful prayer support. Please keep this process in your prayers.
Thanks to God and your faithfulness for making this project possible!

Building Update

Today (Tuesday) we received an email from the owner of the building. He just received the final conditions from the county on his construction project and hopes to get to us soon on the proposed cost for space we want to lease. We’ll keep you updated as information comes in. Thanks to everyone who is praying.
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Property Update

As you’re reading this, the water district is laying sewer lines through our property. While not “spiritual sounding” this is important when it comes to building a facility! This is just one more step forward on the property. If you swing by the property, make sure you don’t fall in, the trench is about 10 feet deep.

Property Update

The July 2nd hearing (It got moved to July 16th) for the property owner next to us went well. He has received almost all of the approvals he needs to begin construction. While waiting for a few final approvals he will be grading the site and preparing the elevations.
This is important news for us because he has asked us to consider renting space from him.
We met with him and sketched out some design ideas that would make his space usable for us. He liked the design (so did his architect) and he is currently in the process of getting bids so he can get back to us with cost estimates.
As we continue to explore opportunities for better meeting spaces, please pray with us that God would provide all we need and more, according to His great power!
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
--Ephesians 3:20-21

Important County Hearing

July 2nd is an important county hearing concerning the building being constructed next to our property. Based on the outcome of this meeting, construction will immediately begin and the completion date is estimated to be 7-9 months out.

This is of interest to us for two reasons…

1) The owner has approached us about renting space in this new building as a meeting place for our church. This will give us a 24/7 building to use until we save the money to build on our own property.

2) Whether or not we rent space, this new project is immediately adjacent to our property, and as part of the development a shared driveway will be constructed that will give us access to our land. So it moves our property one step closer toward an eventual building.

Building Update

What’s New on the Building? We are still moving forward on a new building; But it may look different than what we first imagined! The owner of the building we looked at has asked us to consider a different building, one that’s even closer to the property.

A little background: The owner has been trying to construct a building on the lot immediately adjacent to the south side of our property. In fact, we talked to him about this project a year ago, but it was stuck in the county. Well, it’s not longer stuck. While we’ve been praying about his existing building, suddenly this other project came to life, and he’s hoping to start construction in 5 weeks.

In the meantime – In the meantime the owner has had another development. He has received an offer on the building we held our service in. It came from a large company that wants to take the offices and all the warehouse space. (including the portion we want). It’s pretty much an offer the owner can’t refuse, so he is planning to move forward with them on the “APC” building. He is offering us first chance at this new building.

Keep Praying - We are still working hard to get more information, and we’ll update you as information becomes available. The most important activity now is prayer. We need God to go before us and guide us to the place that’s right for us.

On Hold

The owner of the building we have been looking at contacted us, and wants to discuss some new developments, including an opportunity that may be better for the church. He asked for ten days to pull together some information to share with us.
Since we want our information meetings to reflect the most accurate and up to date information possible, we will be rescheduling our next meetings, for after we meet with him. Please keep praying for the exciting opportunities in front of our church.

Did you see the plot plan at our Growing in Faith Event? If not, check it out.

At our Growing in Faith anniversary event people enjoyed looking at the rough draft of the plot plan. Once on the property members were impressed with the size of the building and many were surprised to learn that the building will be two stories!

In case you missed the event, below is a copy of a possible design for the first floor of our potential building. If you have any questions email us at growinginfaith@newlifecommunitychurch.net