Neighbor to air anger at TBN

The frustration and fatigue in Stacy Schofro’s eyes is unmistakable. Along with her family, Schofro is one of the last holdouts living in a cluster of homes right next to Trinity Broadcasting Network’s distinctive white building near South Coast Plaza.

Schofro, along with a small group of neighbors who have all sold their Life Styles development houses to TBN and left, has been fighting the network for nearly 10 years now.

She said the facility’s noise and the bright light emanating from the strings of perennially hung Christmas lights have made her life miserable.

On Monday night, Schofro will try to persuade the city’s Planning Commission to overturn a recent zoning decision that allows the network to film outdoors 12 times a year; but this fight presents only another small battle for Schofro.

“We tried to tell people what it was like to live here, but the city would never do anything about it,” she said.

Schofro has tried many strategies to persuade the network to comply with her wishes. A city-compiled report on the issue chronicles years of frequent calls to Code Enforcement and police, lawsuits and hours of discussion with city officials.

Because the city doesn’t believe her, she said, Schofro has taken to filming the leaf blowers, cherry pickers and other disturbances that she says occur day and night. She created a DVD of several instances to convince people it’s a real problem.

Across the street from Schofro, Dawn Vasco is not quite as bothered by the noise as Schofro — but she doesn’t like living in an empty community.

“The whole neighborhood has been affected because they own 14 houses here,” Vasco said. “I don’t have neighbors. It’s not a neighborhood anymore.”

To her, the noise from the TBN lot is not as obnoxious as the street noise. Life Styles sits between the 405 Freeway and Bear Street, a major traffic artery.

“[The noise from the lot] is just an annoyance. It’s not something I’m going to kill myself over,” Vasco said.

Aniz Uhler, who lives down the street from Schofro, doesn’t mind TBN. She says they’re good neighbors, except for the occasional beeping from cherry pickers used to install lights.

“I could have some noisy neighbors, but I don’t have any neighbors. I have a quiet street,” Uhler said.

Occasionally, a black stretch limousine will take TBN guests to her street, she says, but other than that, Uhler is more or less alone.

TBN denies allegations that the noise it makes is unacceptable. The network said recent tests have shown that its planned outdoor filming is not even going to be noticeable to residents.

“We think we’ve been very careful and thoughtful that we’re not imposing on our neighbors,” said Greg McCafferty, who works for the Sheldon Group, the firm representing TBN.

Earlier, the network had applied for a permit to film 72 times per year with amplified sound and an audience, but they have scaled back their request to only 12 times per year with no amplification and no audience.

They invited city officials, including Senior Planner Mel Lee and Councilwoman Wendy Leece, to a demonstration of their outdoor broadcasting and the two were satisfied that it was harmless, according to the staff report.

The report offers little consolation to Schofro, though. She worries that setup for the filming will generate unacceptable amounts of noise.

Every privilege the city gives TBN, the network abuses, according to Schofro.

“That lot is noisy more than it is quiet because of preparation,” Schofro said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].