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Council may vote on church proposal By MELISSA MARTIN JACKSONVILLE - The City Council may vote Tuesday on whether to allow Southern Oregon's oldest church to build a sanctuary in a neighborhood that doesn't want it. Jacksonville City Council members will listen to testimony from attorneys before they discuss, and possibly vote on, what may be the most controversial land-use case in this town's history. This will be the council's second vote on First Presbyterian's proposal to build a 445-seat sanctuary on 10 acres the church owns near the Pheasant Meadows subdivision. The city denied the church a conditional use permit March 2, 2000. But a year later, and with two new members, the council voted to consider the case again. If you go When : 7 p.m. Tuesday (following the regularly scheduled Jacksonville City Council meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m.) Where : Cascade Christian High School gymnasium, 525 E. E St., Jacksonville. The meeting has been moved from Old City Hall to accommodate crowds. Nearly 200 people attended a hearing last month. Who : Testimony by Medford attorneys John Hassen, representing First Presbyterian Church, and Tonia Moro, representing Friends of Jacksonville neighborhood group. The council listened to more than four hours of testimony April 3 and received dozens of letters until the record was closed on April 30. On Tuesday, council members will listen to rebuttals from John Hassen, the attorney hired by the church, and Tonia Moro, the attorney hired by the opposing neighbors called Friends of Jacksonville, said Paul Wyntergreen, city administrator. First Presbyterian Church was established in 1857 by circuit riding preacher Moses Williams. The congregation met in the Methodist Church building, which no longer stands, until it built a two-story sanctuary on California Street in 1880. Today, First Presbyterian's 300 members still sit on the original wooden pews built for 125 people and still hold services in the National Historic Landmark building. The church has been accommodating its growth by renting space at nearby Cascade Christian High School. Members have spent the past year raising nearly $2 million for a new building with the hope the city would grant a conditional use permit, said the Rev. Larry Jung. The Jacksonville church case made national headlines last year when the council approved the new sanctuary, but banned weddings and funerals there and set hours of operation. Following a public outcry that the conditions restricted the church's freedom of worship, the council reversed its decision. When news of the wedding and funeral ban reached Presbyterian USA headquarters in Louisville, Ky., denomination leaders came to the defense of the Southern Oregon congregation. Churches and synagogues have a new federal law on their side - Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Protection Act of 2000, said Mark Tammen, a spokesman for the denomination's General Assembly. "Government has to have a defensible reason why they need to trump a religious right," Tammen said. "They have to show they've utilized the least imposing restriction they can in order to meet their goal." "It doesn't mean the church automatically wins, but it means if the city tells the church, 'No, you're not going to build there,' it has to have compelling reason why not." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.