The city Planning Commission voted 5-2 on June 11 to approve plans and a conditional-use permit for the group to turn a former residential care facility at Del Dios Road and Avenida Del Diablo into a meeting and meditation facility, following a presentation by the group's project consultant. Brian Regan told the city's planning commission that the congregation will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. "These people are very quiet and serene, and very diligent and conscientious," he said. "They can come in and take a piece of property that is run down and turn it into something attractive."

The Self-Realization Fellowship, which still maintains an opulent world headquarters on the ocean-side bluffs in Encinitas, has about 100 members in inland North County. The Escondido meditation group hopes to move into its new quarters in about four months.

The Escondido center will be much smaller than the group's large temples in Encinitas and San Diego.