Ever Expanding Korean Baptist Church, San Jose

San Jose Plannign Commision goes against its own decisions!

Families often move to a bigger homes when they outgrow their current dwellings, they do not buy the adjacent home and use both houses. However, this is exactly what the Church located at 1056 Pinewood drive did and the members of Planning Commission, in the city of San Jose granted the Church permit on12th October, 2005 to use those five homes legally.
In 1978, the same council, albeit different members , promised the neighbors of the church the following :

"No Future expansion shall be allowed on the subject site".

I was appalled. I could not believe that this could happen after our neighborhood went to the city Planning meetings and spoke about all the troubles we had had with this particular church.
My husband and I bought our home in 1995 and we share over 100 feet of our boundary with the church. We knew that there was a church behind but we were told by the original owners about the "No more Expansion". We would never have bought the house, had we known that the San Jose Council does not stand by its own rulings. We would have called law enforcement several times since 1996 for dangerous parking spillovers from the church's congregation on Sundays and noise disturbances. By illegally using these five homes for Sunday schools or other church activities, the church has violated both the city code and fire department safety codes. I did not make any complaints against the noise or parking issue because I believed in the mandate passed in 1978 and 1996. I was willing to live with these issues as long as there was no further expansion.
We expected the city to stand by their past mandates. We trusted them.We were naive.

How hard is it to recognize that the neighbors of the church do not want any change especially when each time the church tries to expand, we protest. The church is nestled in the midst of residential homes but they bought five houses and now want these single family homes to get "Conditional User Permit". Once permit is granted, this will be the first step for this church to expand. I fully expect them to raze these houses to the ground and rebuild until I have this huge complex behind my house. This church takes a mile even when an inch was not given - imagine what they would do now - all in the name of the good Lord.

I am still trying to figure out how it is moral and ethical for the church to buy these five single family homes when they were told that they would be no more expansion at this site. I wonder how they rationalize all this - I suppose it is always okay if it is done in the name of the good Lord. Sounds familiar- huh.

Well, at the final Planning commission meeting at the swanky new City Hall, when KBC got the permit, a lot of the congregation spoke up and said totally irrelevant things like how wonderful their church was and a great place for their young. They talked about being immigrants and assimilating to American society etc. Well, yes, I am an immigrant too - and raised in a Baptist home to boot - but what has this got to do with the church encroaching upon a residential neighborhood? Besides, none of the parisherners live in the immediate vicinity of their wonderful church so what do they know about what it is like to be the neighbor of their church? What is so great for them is merely a source of great distress for me. Even through double pane windows, I can hear them and it is not as pretty as they think.

Unless, you live in my house, hear the things I hear and see the things I see - their words don't mean much and are nothing but more noise

Fall

There is just something to be said about Fall - that nip in the air. The hint of cool while summer's warmth still lingers. Time to clear away the tomato patch and clean up the yard where empty spaces appear and you begin to plan for spring's abundance. We are not in New England, I grant you that but even in the bay area, I see the subtle changes in the leaves - there are a lot of Gingko Biloba in my neck of the woods, planted by the city on the streets, and I love to see the leaves slowly turn yellow only to become bald by December.

In 2003, I had the good fortune to be in Vermont during all the seasons as my husband was contracting with IBM for the year. My first visit to Burlington was in May and I was immediately taken with the crisp clean air, the green look everywhere and visions of lilac in almost every yard. Most were lilac in color but a few were white - abundant blooms and huge to boot. Not like my pitiful ones in San Jose which bloom in early April and is quite literally the pride of my Cul-de-sac. I am the only one who has a lilac bush and my neighbors come over to visit and invariably end up taking a few cuttings and gush as they breathe in that wonderful fragrance. Perhaps because of the heat, it blooms for a mere three weeks before it dies away. Obviously, Lilacs must be native to New England and there abouts as they reign supreme - so glorious. I also saw a lot of Hostas in the yards there and peonies too. Nice.

Summer was nice too - more like Spring in the Bay area but my husband said I missed the hot humid and muggy days. I was ready to move to Vermont - thought it was so pretty and green with a pristine feel. And not at all crowded like home. The only crowded place was downtown Burlington - everybody seem to come out to dine and walk around on weekends. College students, couples of all ages and families. All the restaurants were full and the outside seatings fully occupied - taking advantage of the nice weather. Downtown was awful crowded for a place that was not really heavily populated. Downtown San Jose seem deserted compared to Burlington's. There is a reason for it - apparently good sunny days are hard to come by so people take full advantage of the good days. I would understand this better later after getting a small taste of winter in Vermont.

Vermont is famous for its Fall color and I saw why. After living in the Bay area, seeing the colors ranging anywhere from fiery reds to burnt brown and the colors in between was spectacular. Vibrant burning hills confront your eyes while the clean cool air caresses your face and you know you are in fall heaven. Fall is nature's finest pelleates( sp? on display and the season to taste the sweetest apples. Vermont is truly beautiful - truly the land of green mountains, maples for the colors and syrup and abundant apples. By Autumn, I was in love.

In november, the weather turned and became cold. I only heard about if from my husband and he told me that it was a different kind of cold - so damn cold that it hurts. It apparently got colder and he said there was no way we could live there. I was there by December to help him move and was shocked to see snow banked high on either sides of the road. We drove to his apartment in eerie silence - with me eyeing the snow wearily and feeling the cold hit me when we walked to the apartment. I began to see what he was talking about this cold being a different kind of beast altogether. It was hard on me - for I am that person who finds winter in the Bay Area cold. I am that person who is wrapped in a sweater by halloween. And being in Vermont in december was not my cup of tea - everything looked different - all the roofs were heavily loaded with snow and the grounds were white and once where there were fiery red leaves were patches of white and bark - still a picture perfect sight like a postcard but oh the cold - stinging every exposed flesh like some alien bees.

I forgot all about the other wonderful seasons. I was told that it remained cold till April and that wonderful lake Champlain would be frozen for over 40 feet or something for a few months. Very diiferent from California - where we take blue skies and 80 degrees days for granted. I would not move to Vermont but I would certaily visit - when it comes down to the basics - I prefer heat and warmth to the cold sting of winter.

The Natural Gardener

Yes, that is me in my own creation - my very own garden where every thing has been planted by me. I love two things most ( among others ) in life - reading and gardening. I need them both - I read for my amusement and lying in the couch could be very tiring for you back and neck. So, when my body begins to scream for activity ( lying prone for hours with any book would do that), I go out in the garden and weed and trim to unwind and get my joints moving.
It does wonders for your mind too. Nothing like sweating it out with some honest manual labor to feel that all is right with your world again.