CRESTVIEW — An ordinance designed to limit downtown “storefront” churches is raising concern at traditional places of worship.
“If a hurricane destroys our church, we can rebuild it,” said the Rev. Mark Broadhead, First Presbyterian Church of Crestview's pastor. “We just can’t get a certificate of occupancy for it.”
But Administrative Services Director Teresa Gaillard said existing churches, including storefront places of worship, have nothing to worry about unless they plan to expand.
Read commentary: Crestview officials could be "selling the city's soul to the devil">>
“If something happens, they’re grandfathered in,” Gaillard said.
Broadhead’s church and Lifepoint are the two stand-alone churches affected by new city laws.
REVITALIZATION PLAN
The regulations, approved by the City Council in October 2014, are part of an amendment to the city’s comprehensive plan that created the downtown mixed-use district, Gaillard said.
As part of that rezoning, the council sought to restore the Main Street district's residential component and support it with more businesses.
“Our downtown is in need of revitalization,” Gaillard said. “The goal, more or less, is for a business to have visible activity all week long, not just one or two nights a week.”
Where existing churches might experience difficulties under the new regulations is if they try to expand. Broadhead’s church, for example, wants to replace its aging education building on the corner of State Road 85 and Beech Avenue.
“Expanding, that’s a different story,” Gaillard said. “They need to have a pre-op to make sure everything’s done in a proper way. As long as they utilize the same footprint, they’ll be OK.”
NOT ‘ANTI-CHURCH’
City planning consultant Jack Dorman said during a Sept. 16, 2014 Local Planning Agency meeting that the new zoning will encourage a livelier downtown atmosphere after 5 p.m., when Main Street quiets.
“We are not anti-church but feel the churches would not be comfortable in that atmosphere,” Dorman said, according to meeting minutes.
According to the minutes, “The planning official advised we want our churches in Crestview to grow and expand but just not in the downtown area.”
That doesn’t sit well with Broadhead.
“It sounds prejudicial to me and smacks of ‘religious persecution,’” he stated in an email to the News Bulletin.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Downtown regulations target Crestview's churches