Foursquare Church to Discuss 'Flat Top' Development Thursday

A Montecito Heights based community group formed to fight the development of a 40-acre swath of hilltop land known as 'Flat Top' is inviting the public to attend a meeting with the property's owner and developer on Thursday evening (tonight).

The proposed development will be just one item on the Montecito Heights Improvement Association's agenda, which will be held from 7-9 p.m. at the Montecito Heights Senior Center located at 4545 Homer Street.

The group--known as Save Our Undeveloped Land or SOUL--is opposed to a plan by the property's owners, The Foursquare Gospel Church, to develop 24 properties on the land.

Opponents of the plan have argued that development of the road would diminish the area's character as an open-space haven for wildlife, and that the construction itself would be a major nuisance to homeowners due to Montecito Heights' narrow and winding roadways.

Vince Daly--of the Daly Group Inc., which has been hired by the Foursquare Church to devise a development plan for Flat Top--told community members in March that he is committed to building the "least impactful project possible."

The Four Square Gospel Church has owned 37 acres of Flat Top for about 80 years. The parcel purchased in order to erect three radio towers that would broadcast the sermons of founder Sister Aimee Semple McPherson.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story stated that Thursday's meeting would be hosted by S.O.U.L.--it will actually be hosted by the Montecito Heights Improvement Association. We regret the error.