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Zoning threatens church's good deed Roger Williams, left, John Rich and John Stewart load firewood into a truck at Westminister Presbyterian Church in Medford. The church's Project Warm program is now threatened by a zoning issue. [Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch] Friday Jan 19, 2018 at 5:35 PM Jan 19, 2018 at 5:35 PM By Kaylee Tornay Mail Tribune Westminster Presbyterian Church's Project Warm, a 38-year-old firewood donation program, came under unexpected city scrutiny in mid-December after a neighbor's complaint. Now the church has to receive a conditional use permit or move the firewood site to continue the effort that helps more than 100 households in the county. Project Warm, which is run entirely by volunteers, provides firewood to low-income and elderly people and to people with disabilities. It has operated out of one corner of the church's 5.7-acre property in an east Medford neighborhood for nearly four decades. At the end of 2017, it was for the first time the subject of an anonymous complaint — that the stockpile of wood was providing a haven for rodents. When city code enforcement officers came out to investigate the complaint, however, they found the rodent risk was overshadowed by a bigger issue: The wood lot, and the activities going on there, were not and likely never were in compliance with city zoning. Nestled into a single-family residential area, Westminster Presbyterian doesn't have the necessary permission from the city in the form of a conditional use permit to be chopping, storing and distributing wood, as it had been for nearly four decades. Church administrator Craig Ellerbeck said the church had no idea it was violating city zoning rules. In the past, volunteers have even received wood from downed trees brought to the site by Medford Parks and Recreation employees. He said the now-secondary rodent complaint is the first that he's ever heard about the program. "It is ironic, but I don’t think anybody thought that anybody was doing anything wrong," he said. "It’s just kind of interesting how it came to light. ... We are closer to the wood than anybody and we don’t have a rat problem." Lead Pastor Barnabas Sprinkle said church leaders will talk with neighbors to hear their concerns or answer questions — and also will apply for a conditional use permit to allow the program to continue at the church. The process starts with an application, followed by a hearing in which the church and beneficiaries of the program, as well as neighbors, could testify for or against the application. The Planning Commission has the final say on conditional use permits, unless an appeal is filed with City Council. Deputy City Attorney Eric Mitton said the city is eager to help the church continue its firewood program while complying with zoning rules. In a letter he sent to the church regarding the complaint, he suggested the church consider relocating the wood to another location. "The city is a supporter of what they do," Mittion said. "We want to work with them while also making sure that everyone’s following the same rules." The church woodlot is a centralized landing spot for the volunteers, who show up every Tuesday and Thursday from October to April to load up their own truck beds and trailers with wood. They transport loads as far as Rogue River and Prospect. Ken Hower, who has helped organize volunteers for six years, says they help people who wouldn't be able to heat their houses without the help, because of financial or physical issues, or both. Bammy Wood, an east Medford resident, is one of the recipients. After working 28 years in adult foster care, she said, she's now diabetic and on disability after a fall. More than half of her monthly income goes toward rent, she said, and she'd have to cut back to heat her rented house if the program was shut down. "I don’t know how I’ll live without wood to burn," she said. "It’s kind of scary to think of not having heat or to sit in the dark." Hower said while the church likely has enough wood for people to last the remainder of the winter, the city told the church it can no longer accept new wood donations until the zoning issue is worked out. The lot already has some "green" wood seasoning to be used next winter, but it would need more wood to help as many people as before. "We don’t want to shut this ministry down," Sprinkle said. "We’re talking about how we can do this best, and make it a blessing and not a nuisance."  As of Friday afternoon, the church had not submitted its application for the conditional use permit. — Reach Mail Tribune reporter Kaylee Tornay at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ka_tornay.