Photo by Karen Quincy Loberg, Karen Quincy Loberg // Buy this photo
KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR
File photo: Suzannah Underwood addresses the Ventura City Council on
Monday, describing harm that Harbor Community Church will do to her
neighborhood.
Photo by Juan Carlo, Ventura County Star
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR
File photo: Damien Ashley prays before receiving breakfast at Harbor
Community Church in Ventura. The city has released conditions that
would allow the church to continue its Operation Embrace program
In short, in the case that pits religious freedom and what a neighborhood says is its health and safety, the potential is high.
Harbor Community Church, which offers food, clothing, showers and worship to a mostly homeless population, is appealing a decision by the Planning Commission that effectively shut down the services. It wants to keep running Operation Embrace at 3100 Preble Ave. but needs a conditional use permit to do so in the area zoned residential.
Twice, the public hearing has been continued, most recently in March. The council requested more information, including how the city would monitor the church’s operations, how Harbor would provide information to neighbors and the city, how it would handle security and transportation, and the costs to move the operations.
Monitoring the program could be costly, given its problematic history in the neighborhood, the city’s staff report says.
It notes “the normal complaint-based enforcement process will not be adequate to address these secondary adverse effects” and provides three options: hiring a police officer or hiring a neighborhood preservation officer to be in the neighborhood full time at the city’s costs, or have Harbor contract with a private security firm.
Attorneys for the church dispute that the homeless program has been directly linked to problems in the neighborhood.
“Most of the ‘evidence’ of these alleged effects has involved the same handful of incidents, rehashed by different individuals who did not directly witness the events...” according to a letter from the Stanford Religious Liberty Clinic, which is representing Harbor.
It said Harbor already has a full-time, licensed security guard who lives at the church.
The staff report recommends having Harbor submit status reports and hold meetings quarterly for at least 18 months, then twice a year for the next 18 months.
At the city’s request, Harbor prepared a management plan on its operations. But the report failed to detail how Harbor would manage the activity of its participants before and after Operation Embrace hours, what happens to dogs that don’t come into the facility and how it would deal with those removed for drugs, intoxication or other “uncontrolled behavior,” staff said.
Harbor attorneys contend the city’s “vague suggestions...to ‘just do more’ are unhelpful. We beg staff for more detailed suggestions,” they wrote.
In consulting with real estate professionals, the city determined it would cost $1.5 to $1.8 million to relocate the church and the program. Costs could be far less if only the services were moved. Staff recommends a two-year limit be attached if the council decides to grant Harbor’s appeal and issue the permit.
Regardless of how it plays out, an appeal by the losing side is anticipated.
Monday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 501 Poli St. in Ventura.
No comments:
Post a Comment