Pastor Criminally Charged With Zoning Violations Gets His Day in Court
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week’s stories include:
- The New York City Council giving final approval to City of Yes zoning reforms.
- Provo, Utah, moving backward on accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
- Washington, D.C., removing landlords’ ability to set limits on the breed and size of animals they allow on their properties.
But first, our lead story on yet another city’s efforts to shut down a homeless shelter while the weather outside turns frightful.
Dad’s Place on Trial
It’s coming down to the wire for Dad’s Place.
For close to a year now, the Bryan, Ohio, church and its pastor Chris Avell have been locked in a fierce legal battle with the city government and the local fire chief over a makeshift shelter it’s operated on the first floor of its rented church building.
Dad’s Place has argued that letting people rest and worship in its building 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is an integral, First Amendment–protected part of its ministry. The city and the fire chief have argued the church has illegally converted its commercially zoned space into a residential use, in violation of the local zoning code and the state’s fire code.
Last Thursday, a local trial court sided with Bryan Fire Chief Douglas Pool in a civil suit he’s brought against the church. It granted a preliminary injunction against Dad’s Place, forcing the church to relocate the homeless who had been sheltering there overnight from the cold.
A few days prior, Avell stood trial on criminal charges stemming from his church’s alleged zoning and fire code violations.
On Monday, an Ohio appeals court paused that trial court’s injunction, which temporarily forbids the city from taking enforcement action against Dad’s Place or filing new criminal charges against Avell. The city has until Thursday to respond to the trial court’s ruling. On Friday, attorneys for Avell and the city will meet for a post-trial conference in his criminal case.
“For over a year, we have sought to collaborate with Dad’s Place to address public safety requirements, including the installation of an automatic sprinkler system,” said Bryan Mayor Carrie Schlade in a press release following the Thursday ruling. “Dad’s Place and its legal representatives have opted to engage in a protracted process of filing court motions instead of adhering to the law.”
“It’s safe inside Dad’s Place. We’ve known that for a long time. But it’s 19 degrees over the weekend outside of Dad’s Place,” counters Jeremy Dys, an attorney with the First Liberty Institute, which is representing Avell.
Avell was first criminally charged with close to 20 zoning and fire code violations in January. Those charges were later dropped in February in exchange for Dad’s Place agreeing to “cease residential” operations and cure fire code violations at the building.
This compromise broke down a few months later after a fire inspection from Pool found people sleeping in the church. Charges against Avell were refiled in April.
The sticky legal situation Dad’s Place has found itself in is not uniqu
Article from Reason.com
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