Church groups combat efforts to restrict homeless programs

By The Associated Press

04.02.02

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PITTSBURGH — A church that runs programs for the homeless is challenging proposed zoning changes that it claims would interfere with its duty to serve the poor and infringe on its constitutional religious freedoms.

A city councilwoman requested the zoning changes for Allegheny United Church of Christ after angry neighbors complained that a homeless man recently had been convicted of murder and of sexually mutilating an 11-year-old boy. The church's doors are close to the home of the victim's family.

But the church's pastor, the Rev. Michael Penn-Strah, maintains that helping the needy and religion are the same: "It is inherent in our faith." Furthermore, zoning rules that would end the program infringe on First Amendment rights, he said.

Legal experts and homeless advocates say churches are increasingly willing to face off with municipal zoning committees because the number of homeless is on the rise.

Another reason is the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which was signed into law by President Clinton two years ago and bars the government from enacting zoning that imposes a "substantial burden" on a person's exercise of his or her religion.

Some churches believe their duty to help the poor is inseparable from their religion, no matter what land-use controls are in effect — and they are willing to argue the matter in court, experts said.

In the past year, the act has been cited by various shelter groups, including the Missionaries of Charity in Los Angeles and the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York. Both have lawsuits pending.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a law firm that represents churches in freedom-of-religion suits, has cited the act in about 15 cases, including that of the Missionaries of Charity, Becket spokesman Patrick Korten said.

The Catholic mission founded by Mother Theresa opened in East Los Angeles in 1992, shortly after riots left entire sections of the neighborhood destroyed. Three days a week, the mission opens its doors to feed, clothe and bathe the needy.

When people began to move back to the neighborhood, there was pressure on the city to close the mission and rid the area of "undesirables," Korten said.

"Under new zoning rules, they would not be permitted to minister to young, homeless adults, mostly Hispanics," he said. "This is an organization that improved this bombed-out neighborhood."

The city's zoning administrator denied the organization a conditional permit last year, and in September the shelter filed a lawsuit citing the religious land-use act. The Becket fund joined the lawsuit in February.

The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York cited the same act on appeal after winning an injunction that prevents police from forcibly removing the homeless from the front steps of the church. Westgate Tabernacle in West Palm Beach, Fla., filed a suit last month citing the act after the county fined the shelter for breaking zoning ordinances.

The Rev. Penn-Strah, pastor of the Allegheny United Church, said he would pursue legal action, too, if necessary.

"They don't want them (homeless) on the street, but they don't want them in the church," he said. "We have no choice."

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