Judge Rules Colorado Town Can’t Prohibit Church From Sheltering The Homeless
The Rock Church in Castle Rock, Colorado. (Photo via social media)
A Colorado church will continue to house homeless people in RVs on its church property, thanks to a judge’s preliminary injunction.
In an 18-page order, Justice Daniel D. Domenico temporarily blocked the community of Castle Rock, Colorado, from enforcing zoning regulations, prohibiting The Rock Church from housing people on its property.
As first reported on Denver 7, The Rock Church filed a lawsuit in January against Castle Rock, Colorado, in U.S. Federal Court.
City leaders for the community of more than 80,000 people are at odds with the church because the church’s current zoning does not allow housing, according to FAQs on the city’s website. The city is asking the church to submit a formal application to change its zoning if the church wants to continue housing people on its property.
The nondenominational church has sheltered homeless individuals in campers on its property for several years, The Christian Post reported. And the process to change the church’s zoning would reportedly take six to nine months, or longer.
In his order, Judge Domenico specifically referred to Leviticus 25:35–36, which urges Christians to allow the poor to “continue to live among you.”
By preventing the church from allowing the homeless to live on its property, Castle Rock is restricting the church from exercising its religious beliefs, “regardless of whether it might be possible to provide for the needy in some other way,” the order states.
Domenico added that the town did not “explicitly argue that it has a compelling interest in enforcing the (Planning Division) Regulations as interpreted by the Board of Adjustment.”
The court order states no issues have arisen associated with the ministry. Instead, the town “appears concerned about the precedent that would be set, which it suggests might allow … much larger housing projects on the Church’s own property,” Domenico wrote.
As the case moves forward, Domenico contends that the church is likely to succeed on the merits of its case.
This piece is republished from The Roys Report.
Sheila Stogsdill is a freelance print journalist and digital reporter, primarily covering crime issues for KSN/KODE.