\u201cWe are disappointed. But we are not walking away,\u201d the group wrote in a recent Instagram post<\/a>. \u201cAfter careful consideration, we have made the decision to appeal. We are taking this fight to the California Court of Appeal \u2014 a process that will take 12 to 18 months and keep active legal pressure on this project throughout that entire period.\u201d<\/p>\n Started in 2008 by Pastor Robert Herber, All Peoples Church is a non-denominational Christian church. It has an average weekly attendance of around 800 adults and children, and is currently operating out of a facility in La Mesa, Gulley said.<\/p>\n In late 2017, the church purchased the irregularly shaped property at 5555 College Ave., just north of Interstate 8 on the east side of College Avenue, and abutting single-family homes. In July 2018, All Peoples Church started the process to amend the Navajo Community Plan to allow church use on a site zoned for low-density residential use.<\/p>\n The project calls for a 54,476-square-foot church building with a 900-seat sanctuary, a multipurpose room with a basketball court, and second-floor classrooms and staff offices. The facility includes a two-level, 71,010-square-foot parking garage and surface spots along College Avenue. Also planned is a new intersection with a traffic signal at the church\u2019s primary entrance.<\/p>\n Members of the community group Save Del Cerro have opposed the All Peoples Church project for years<\/a>. The group, which has branded the project as a \u201cmegachurch,\u201d has said that the development is inconsistent with the land\u2019s residential zoning, out of scale for the neighborhood and unsafe due to additional car traffic.<\/p>\n In March 2025, City Council, after hearing public comments from more than 100 speakers, voted in a split decision to approve the project permits, amend the community plan and certify the environmental impact report. The vote resolved a federal lawsuit<\/a> filed by the religious institution, which alleged the local government body\u2019s original January 2024 decision to deny the project<\/a> violated federal protections provided to churches.<\/p>\n Save Del Cerro formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit a day after the council\u2019s revote and filed its suit the following month. The entity is run by Joshua Billauer and Michael Livingston, who are listed in court documents as the nonprofit\u2019s chief executive officer and chief financial officer, respectively.<\/p>\n In the case, the nonprofit takes aim at perceived deficiencies in the project\u2019s environmental impact report related to the traffic analysis, planning documents, review of project alternatives and infrastructure impacts. For instance, the lawsuit alleges that the new traffic signal presents a safety hazard, that the traffic analysis undercounted car trips to avoid a more thorough review, that the project is inconsistent with the community plan and that a payment to mitigate for habitat loss to the orange-throated whiptail is insufficient.<\/p>\n Caietti rejected all of the claims, including the allegation of a faulty traffic analysis.<\/p>\n All Peoples Church is projected to have a less-than-significant impact on traffic, generating an average of 280 car trips on weekdays and 1,976 trips on Sundays. As such, the project met the city\u2019s screening criteria for a small project of less than 300 average daily trips, meaning a full \u201cvehicle miles traveled,\u201d or VMT, analysis was not required.<\/p>\n The lawsuit challenged the determination, in part, because the group asserts the Sunday trips should count toward the threshold determination. In addition, the traffic report\u2019s assumption that the church\u2019s multipurpose gym and basketball court would cause only 10 daily trips is flawed, according to the suit.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is substantial evidence that the city failed to perform a detailed VMT analysis either based on the arbitrary and capricious decision to ignore the nearly 2,000 (average daily trips) on Sundays, or based on sheer speculation that flies in the face of the prescribed methodology,\u201d Cory Briggs, the attorney representing Save Del Cerro, wrote in his opening brief.<\/p>\n The judge concluded that the environmental analysis properly studied car trips, as prescribed by CEQA.<\/p>\n \u201cThe court further finds there is substantial evidence in the record to support both the calculation of the (vehicle miles traveled) and use of the small project exception\u2019s threshold, along with the VMT associated with the multi-purpose room\/basketball gym and use of the \u2018house of worship\u2019 trip rate use category,\u201d Caietti wrote.<\/p>\n Save Del Cerro said in an email to media outlets that the case raises broader questions about how the city of San Diego applies CEQA to institutional projects in residential neighborhoods. An appellate court decision will have implications beyond the All Peoples Church project, the email states.<\/p>\n Gulley, the church spokesperson, said the legal threat has not stopped forward progress, although the proceedings have slowed the timeline and increased costs. He also sees the opposition group as a small segment that doesn\u2019t represent the community at large.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went through so many meetings in the opening years (with the community), and they were all very favorable. And then this small group of people came into the story. And a lot of their efforts were very quickly against us and not fully guided by real information,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom the very onset, their website said they were anti-church, and there\u2019s so many elements of their story that haven\u2019t been consistent. I think for us, we just don\u2019t believe it represents the greater community.\u201d<\/p>\n All Peoples Church formally submitted its construction drawing and documents to the city in December, Gulley said. The plan review process is expected to take months, and the church has not set a construction start date, he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SUT-L-ALLPEOPLESCHURCH-RENDERING-01.jpg\")
A rendering of the All Peoples Church project, which includes a 54,476-square-foot sanctuary building with classrooms, offices and a multipurpose gym. The rendering is a view of the church, looking north from College Avenue. (All Peoples Church)<\/p>\n