San Juan Capistrano city officials are getting an earful about the citiations issued to Chuck and Stephanie Fromm for holding a Bible study in their Mission Hills home.
Letters have come from across the country, and even from Australia. There's also a letter in there, however, that says it's more than a Bible study, but a church service led by Chuck Smith Jr., whose father, of course, started Calvary Chapel.
In response, the city issued a statement:
"Notwithstanding what various media outlets are reporting, the City of San Juan Capistrano does not prohibit home Bible studies. The issue with the Fromm case involves the question of when a property developed for residential use has been transformed into a place of public assembly. As you might know, zoning and building codes treat residences differently than places of public assembly because of public welfare and safety reasons. The Fromm case further involves regular meetings on Sunday mornings and Thursday afternoons with up to 50 people, with impacts on the residential neighborhood on street access and parking."
The Capistrano Dispatch immediately emailed back to ask what made a Bible study a Bible study, and what made a home a "place of public assembly" but the question was ignored by the city spokeswoman, Kelly Tokarski. The city code doesn't seem to make the definition, nor set a limit for attendees or anything like that.
Here are the letters: Download 11-0919 Bible Study Letters Rec'd
Wouldn't the "home business" restrictions apply?
If the group is organized as a church and collecting "tithes" (and what Smith-related church wouldn't be collecting cash?) then it would seem to qualify as a business. And since they want to keep as much of that cash as possible, I'll bet they're organized as a non-profit, which clearly makes them a business.
SJC home business rules state no meetings. 400 square foot max area. And no employees or staff other than family members. Sounds like they've violated all of those.
Posted by: MDRackham | September 20, 2011 at 02:53 PM
I doubt that the neighbors object to the event being a Bible study group. What they object to is "street access and parking."
What really needs to happen is for the Fromm family to meet with the neighbors, possibly with a professional mediator present, to discuss ways to modify the events so the neighborhood is not impacted.
I don't know what events led up to the neighbors' complaint with the City, but I think it's unfortunate that the tendency today is to call in the authorities and invoke a law when one is inconvenienced by one's neighbor. Sometimes a cordial face-to-face discussion will resolve the issue, but we have become accustomed to contacting the authorities first rather than the person with whom we have a grievance.
Again, I don't know what the neighbors tried first, and this could have been their last resort.
Posted by: gj | September 21, 2011 at 09:53 AM
WRT MDRackham's comments: is there any evidence, particularly in what the city is saying as justification, supporting any of the allegations about this gathering being organized as a church or small business?
If there is, that could reasonably be a different discussion. If not, what does the hypothetical have to do with the situation?
Posted by: Interested | September 25, 2011 at 06:50 PM