Northpinellas: City's rules, religions collide

A Clearwater start-up church challenges zoning codes that it says limit its right to practice. The city, however, says rules must be enforced equally.

By CHRISTINA HEADRICK

CLEARWATER -- It was 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, when a city code enforcement inspector observed the clear violation of city law at 1444 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. "A person in front was standing with his head bowed while speaking," city code inspector R. Hall noted, "the group (was) standing and appearing to sing."

The Church of Hope was again conducting services to spread the word of God to the city's homeless, and contrary to city code, church was in session on a parcel of less than 20,000 square feet in an area zoned for business. Hall presented a zoning violation notice to the church's controversial Baptist pastor, Randy Morrow of Palm Harbor.

The Church of Hope recently decided to fight the violation. Its attorney, John McGuire of Clearwater, plans to argue at a December trial that the city's code violates the constitutional rights of the Church of Hope and Morrow to practice their religious beliefs and minister to the homeless.

"You can worship nude women in a lot as small as 5,000 square feet," McGuire said, quoting from the city's rules on adult entertainment establishments. "But you can't worship God in less than 20,000 square feet. It doesn't make sense."

The city effectively prohibits new, small churches from renting space in strip malls in commercial zones, McGuire said, because most strip malls are on parcels of less than 20,000 square feet -- an inappropriate location for a church by city rules.

McGuire argues state law requires city governments to adopt the least restrictive rules possible when it comes to regulating religious institutions, and Clearwater's code unfairly limits small, start-up churches in areas dominated by business.

The current case is the first time the city's new rule on the size of churches in commercial areas, adopted last year in a revised city code, has been challenged, said city Planning Director Ralph Stone. He contends that the city is not trying to limit small churches, and some parts of the city like downtown do not have any minimum sizes for church facilities.

Churches simply must meet the same kinds of standards, Stone said, that other kinds of development must meet in Clearwater, such as having enough parking. The requirements are contained in the city zoning code adopted last year.

"There are those kind of standards for churches, just like there are for a McDonald's," Stone said.

Small churches that want to rent a storefront along commercial zones like Gulf-to-Bay can ask for an exception to the rules, Stone said. They could offer to take steps like beautifying their storefront in exchange, he said. Under the new city code, Clearwater administrators are empowered to negotiate such deals and grant some exceptions to basic standards.

"They could ask for relief from the standards," Stone said of the Church of Hope. "And that's what's kind of frustrating for me. They kind of moved in illegally, then claimed they were being harassed."

The church still has the opportunity to come into the city Planning Department and seek relief from the standards, Stone said.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in December. Meanwhile, Morrow faces criminal charges of sexual battery in another case, and the Church of Hope plans to continue with or without Morrow as pastor, McGuire said.

Clearwater isn't the only city in the area that has grappled with the issue of how far government can go to regulate churches -- particularly ones that add ancillary services such as feeding the homeless to their religious activities, sometimes upsetting nearby businesses or residents.

In St. Petersburg, the city tangled with the founders of the Refuge, an alternative church that catered to the homeless, for three years.

In 1997, St. Petersburg officials ruled that the church was to be considered a social service agency -- not a church -- since the Refuge insisted on feeding the homeless downtown while efforts were ongoing to rejuvenate downtown and open Tropicana Field.

Under the decision, the Refuge would have to move out of St. Petersburg's downtown under zoning rules for social service agencies -- or suspend some of its programs.

But last year, a three-judge panel in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court decided that the Refuge was indeed a church, which was also following a mission to help the needy according to Jesus Christ's call. That meant the Refuge could stay.

The group still works with other organizations downtown to feed the homeless, although with problems acquiring property downtown it was forced to move into a smaller building this year.

The Refuge's Rev. Barbara Richards said she was concerned that Clearwater may have a similar dispute.

"How can anybody come in and tell a church what they can or can't do?" Richards said. "The size the congregation needs to be? It's ludicrous. It's an attack on people's freedom of religion. If you're not violating any fire codes, the number of people who can fit into a building, and safety guidelines like that, what's the problem?"

Because of the tightrope that governments have to walk regulating churches, the Pinellas Planning Council suggested that cities allow such programs as feeding the homeless at churches and not regulate additional programs until they exceed 25 percent of the land used by a church.

The council also suggested that cities make exceptions to allow small, start-up storefront churches.

Some cities do that, and as a result, storefront churches there abound.

Largo, for instance, requires a minimum lot size of only 7,500 square feet for churches in commercial areas. The city also requires that no more than 10 percent of a strip mall can be a church and the church should not generate more traffic than what commercial tenants are generating, according to the city's planning department.

Marion Berry, the pastor of the non-denominational Great Heart Ministries in Largo, says she has found her city easy to work with as her 30-member congregation, a prayer group that wants to grow into a church, prepares to move into a small, new building.

"If Clearwater enforces their rules, I think they could restrict a lot of ministries from beginning," Berry said.

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