Payson Roundup

Tom_Garrett (Tom Garrett) says…

Please read this, taken from a Mesa Tribune article:
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Gilbert embroiled in religious freedom flap

March 16, 2010 - 12:19PM , updated: March 16, 2010, 2:05PM

The issue is a notification sent by town staff to a seven-member local group, members of the Oasis of Truth Church, to stop meeting at home, citing the town's land development code, which states: “religious-assembly uses are not permitted in single-family residential structures.”

The group contacted the Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, which subsequently appealed the town's cease-and-desist letter to the group.

GIlbert Mayor John Lewis said he first heard about this matter Friday, but that the council was already planning for a code revision in its upcoming meeting on March 23, after another group had also been asked to stop meeting at home.

About six weeks ago, the Town Council had already heard about the town staff interpreting the code to prohibit church groups from meeting when another church group was also asked not to meet, “although the code's purpose was related to public safety and traffic concerns,” Lewis said.

So town officials had already been asked not to enforce the code until the revisions in its March meeting, but the damage was already done, as the Oasis of Truth Church filed an appeal last week, and the matter has since become public knowledge through the media.

Still, Lewis hoped that the revisions would appease all. The staff has been asked to balance parking and public safety issues with the needs of the residents to be able to meet in small groups privately.

“When you look at Gilbert on any given Sunday, we have groups meeting all over town, and we don't want to get in the way of that. It's the strength of the town,” Lewis said.

The changes might reflect some phrases related to the size of the group, among others, Lewis added.

ADF and Oasis of Truth church members are being included in discussions over the revised code, to ensure it's acceptable to all.

An Alliance Defense Fund spokesman said he hopes the Town Council will recognize that small and incidental use of homes for church meetings are just as protected as any other type of incidental use.
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Okay, what's the correct solution for this problem?

patrandall (Pat Randall) says…

You would not believe some of the codes they have in Gilbert.
Yes, I had a Gilbert address for about 20 yrs.
Of course you probably haven't read all of the Payson code book. (:

fred_franz (frederick franz) says…

If the town council revises the code and it is satisfactory, then OK,
no problem. If unsatisfactory, then start another tea party!
-Fred

SantaBerry (Bernice Winandy) says…

Do you serve raspberry tea?

Tom_Garrett (Tom Garrett) says…

Right, Fred.

Bernice, I suspect Fred was speaking of counselor tea. :-)

Here's the part that the Gilbert Town Council, or ANY group charged with passing laws or ordinances, ought to know:

A direct quote:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….”

The only correct action? Wipe the code off the books, and pass no other regulation which attempts in any way, however small, to regulate religion.

Originally, of course, the First Amendment only applied to Congress, but the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applied the First Amendment to state and local government.

A City Council can pass whatever regulations or set whatever codes it wants (provided, of course, that they meet other tests of legality), but they CANNOT pass anything which so much as even mentions religion.

When our forefathers wrote those words “Congress shall make no law..” they weren't kidding. They meant exactly what they said, “NO law.” I can't believe a town council—any town council—could not know that.