After years of legal challenges, a 900-seat church overlooking Interstate 8 in Del Cerro will be moving forward.On June 17, San Diego Superior Court Judge Carolyn M. Caietti denied a legal petition from Save Del Cerro that challenged the city’s approval for the construction of the All People’s Church, a 54,476-square-foot sanctuary and a two-level parking garage on a six-acre vacant site along College Avenue due to concerns over traffic and environmental impacts. The court ruling was made final nearly a week after both sides appeared to argue the matter in court. In the end, Judge Caietti found that the church and the city adequately addressed the impacts the church would have on the surrounding neighbors and the community. Barring any future appeal, the ruling ends what has been a several-year-long fight between Del Cerro residents, some city councilmembers and church leaders.The fight began shortly after church leaders purchased the six-acre site in 2017. Upon learning of the size and scope of the project, some Del Cerro residents, using the moniker, Save Del Cerro, united to fight the development.Despite the opposition, San Diego Planning Commissioners approved All People’s Church’s plans in 2023, sending the project to the city council to sign off and allow the project to proceed.But the city council had different ideas. During a June 2024 council hearing, the majority of city council members said the church was not a good fit for the community and new housing should be prioritized over any plans for a church.In response, in March 2024, attorneys for the church sued, saying the city council had violated church leaders’ First Amendment rights and violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which bars any jurisdiction from using land-use laws to prevent religious institutions from exercising their First Amendment rights. Unwilling to fight the lawsuit, the city council backtracked, settling the lawsuit and agreeing to bring the project back to the city council for a vote. In March 2025, the city council approved the project.The council’s approval then prompted resident group, Save Del Cerro, to file a lawsuit of its own.In their lawsuit, attorneys for Save Del Cerro argued that the city and representatives for All People’s Church, also known as Light on a Hill, only looked at weekday traffic and not the number of cars that the mega-church would bring on weekends. The resident group also argued that there was no environmental review done to look at traffic safety.In the June 17 final ruling, Superior Court Judge Carolyn M. Caietti disagreed, stating that the review was adequate and followed the California Environmental Quality Act’s requirements and that the city council had adequately cleared the way for the church when it changed the land-use designation in April 2025.Attorney for Save Del Cerro, Cory Briggs, tells Times of San Diego that his client will discuss whether to file an appeal.
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