Congratulations Capistrano, You've Made Time

 

Time Magazine, that is.

But, predictably these days, not in a good way.

The national news magazine picked up on the Bible-study fines, and wrote a piece about it. Here's the beginning:

The city of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., has resorted to fining a family for holding Bible studies in their home as a violation of zoning codes.

Sure, Chuck and Stephanie Fromm technically don't follow the city's proper permit channels by not gaining a conditional use permit to host a home Bible study. But neither does hardly anyone in the city, since the city code requires a permit for any nonprofit or fraternal group expecting three or more people gathering in a residential situation. That happens just about every weekend all across the city, from friends getting together for barbecues to weekend football-viewing parties to, well, the Fromms' Bible study. But the Fromms now have a pair of $300 fines to show for their effort.

Note to City: The media gets it: The issuing isn't whether you "prohibit" Bible studies, as your statement says, it's about the permits and process, etc.

Here's the rest of the post.

Stephanie Fromm, who was cited with her husband Chuck, even commented on the post:

"to fill in some of the info you all are possibly not aware of...

We are being fined for holding ANY "meetings/gatherings" of ANY size larger than 3 people on a "regular" basis. I have 5-6 ladies over on wednesday afternoons, 10-15 people(not cars) on thursday evenings. This does not bother any of my other 6 neighbors on my street (with houses on one side of the street).
The real issue is: when do I have to declare what we do in our home when we have friends & family over! A "conditional use permit" can cost thousands of dollars. We pay our property taxes, isn't that enough?"

Comments

[MDRackham]

The Time reporter seems to be trying to create even more confusion over this issue. Since when do "friends getting together for barbecues" or "weekend football viewing parties" involve the "nonprofit or fraternal group" that the city code calls out?

This isn't about having a party at your house, this is about a formally organized non-profit having regular meetings in a residence, presumably to save the expense of renting proper commercial space. Those of us who play by the rules and pay commercial rent are not amused by people who hide behind prayer as way to skirt the rules.

And to Stephanie Fromm: playing the martyr over property taxes is rather unbecoming. Paying property taxes doesn't get you anything other than the right to keep your property. Other laws still apply to you.

[Dano]

Cry me a river. We'll see what happens at the hearing on the 7th.

Best,

D