Point Reyes Light - November 16, 2000

Dillon neighbors wary of proposed Coptic monastery

By Stephen Barrett

Members of the Oceana Marin Association aired concerns to Supervisor Steve Kinsey last week about plans by the Egyptian Coptic Church to build a monastery on the former Christopher Ranch just north of the Dillon Beach subdivision.

San Bernardino County-based Saint Antony’s Monastery has proposed building five structures totaling almost 20,000 square feet on the 464-acre ranch, including a residence for 10 monks and their bishop. According to the proposal, the compound would serve as a religious cloister for the church, which traces its origins to the monastic tradition established in Egypt in the first century by Saint Mark.

Besides the cloister, the monks would grow some of their own food on the property, and continue to lease a portion of the land for cattle grazing.

However, some neighbors are concerned about whether the monastery will offer religious services and bring unwanted traffic through their private subdivision, said

Oceana Marin resident Alan Clark, a member of the Oceana Marin Association’s ad hoc committee to explore the monks’ proposal.

Water and septic

Other concerns, he said, center on how the compound’s proposed septic and water systems might affect the existing water systems on the property, especially if the monks plan to establish a farm. The water system on the property now serves Oceana Marin and the village of Dillon Beach.

Relations between the church and Oceana Marin Association became somewhat strained after church officials closed escrow on the property last year, then held a ceremony to bless the property. Roughly 40 people drove through Oceana Marin’s private road system to reach the ceremony instead of taking a dirt road off Dillon Beach Road which provides legal access to the ranch, Clark said. Then someone climbed over a fence into the water system to get a hose and water a tree, he added.

Church representatives and their project manager did not return The Light’s phone calls this week.

Needs zoning change

Oceana Marin homeowners are not alone in their concerns about the property. Marin Agricultural Land Trust executive director Bob Berner has noted that a religious retreat is not a permitted use in the coastal, agricultural production zone, and a zoning change would be required for the county to allow a monastery there.

Clark said he felt reassured after meeting with Supervisor Kinsey that neighbors’ concerns will be addressed at some point during the lengthy county approval process. He said those concerns would be the same no matter who proposed to develop the property.

"We do have some people concerned about a ‘religious order’ moving next door, but I say check your Constitution. Religious tolerance is something to be proud of in this country," Clark said. "It’s not about religion, it’s more about the long-term use issues."

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