Document text
Jacksonville church gets a fresh start Ending case before state board will save time, money, council decides By Melissa Martin JACKSONVILLE � It�s back to square one for the City Council and Jacksonville Presbyterian Church. The City Council on Tuesday voted 5-2 to start over in considering the church�s request to build a new sanctuary near the Pheasant Meadows subdivision. Two council members elected last November voted with the majority. The council will look again at church blueprints, listen to church planners, hold public hearings, accept testimony for and against the project and take a new vote whether to grant the church�s application. "This is a step in the right direction," said The Rev. Larry Jung, pastor of First Presbyterian Church. "I think the town has been divided over the whole thing, and we need to bring the two sides closer together." Medford attorney John Hassen, who represents the congregation, asked the City Council to hold new hearings on the church request for a conditional use permit as a way of saving legal fees and speeding up the process. It would cost the city and the church an estimated $5,000 each to continue pursuing the case through the state Land Use Board of Appeals, he said. "Our hope is you would approve the application so the church can go forward with its mission," Hassen said. "We think we can come up with reasonable conditions that the council would approve of." But a council member who voted against hearing the case again said he believes the Land Use Board of Appeals should make the decision, not the Jacksonville council. "LUBA is an experienced arena that can deal with the issues more mechanically and less emotionally," said Bill Leep, who voted against, along with Mayor Jim Lewis, sending the case back to the City Council. "It�s been a difficult and divided decision," Leep said. "Every time we weigh this process, it fractures the town." LUBA is a slow and expensive process, said council member Jerry Mathern, who made the motion to send the case back to the council. The other new council member, Wally Hicks, also voted to hear the case again, along with veterans Doris Crofoot, Donna Schatz and Dean Paddison. "I wanted to bring it back to the council and try to work out our differences on a local level," Mathern said. "I�m looking out for the city�s purse strings." He hopes the City Council can resolve neighbors� concerns that a church would generate too much noise and traffic in the subdivision. If complaints are dealt with, the case might avoid another trip LUBA, this time on appeal from neighbors, Mathern said. The Jacksonville Presbyterian case has a mazelike history. Here is a summary: November 1999 : The Jacksonville Planning Commission denied the church�s request for a conditional use permit to build a 400-seat sanctuary on 10 acres the church owns in the Pheasant Meadows Subdivision, which has 40 homes. The congregation has outgrown its present location, a 120-year-old historic building near downtown. January 2000 : The City Council reversed the Planning Commission�s decision and approved the new church building. February 2000 : In a joint meeting with the Planning Commission, the City Council established conditions of approval, including a ban on weddings and funerals at the new building. The council also set hours of operation for the new church. Media reports about the restrictions sparked a public outcry. March 2, 2000 : The City Council reversed itself and denied the church permit, saying the conditions would infringe on the church�s religious freedom. March 24, 2000 : The church appealed the city�s denial to the Land Use Board of Appeals, which has yet to set a hearing date. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.