On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Asks Waynesboro Commission to Accommodate Churches Wishing to Provide Temporary Winter Shelters for Homeless
WAYNESBORO, Va. — The Rutherford Institute is calling on the City of Waynesboro to accommodate local churches wishing to provide temporary shelters for the homeless during the winter months by allowing them to take refuge inside their existing church buildings. Institute attorneys are challenging the City’s current interpretation of its zoning ordinance which requires churches to apply for permits to shelter the homeless during the winter season, while rendering some churches unable to apply for the permits alleged to be necessary. Insisting that the City’s requirements are in violation of the First Amendment, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and Virginia’s Act for Religious Freedom, Institute attorneys warn that the City could open itself to costly litigation unless the Waynesboro Planning Commission either changes its interpretation or amends the ordinance to remove the permit requirement. Institute attorney Rita Dunaway will appear before the Planning Commission on behalf of several area churches involved in the Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry (WARM).
“Churches have a biblical mandate to care for the needy and downtrodden, and should be supported—not hindered—in their efforts to do so,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “With government budgets currently stressed beyond capacity, it is difficult to comprehend any logical reason that would justify the City of Waynesboro’s imposition of barriers for churches wishing to provide shelter for the homeless in their community.”
Pastor Howard Miller of the Waynesboro Mennonite Church and a collection of other Waynesboro area churches are working toward instituting a rotating thermal shelter for the homeless, called the Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry (WARM), so that those in need of shelter during the winter months may take refuge inside existing church buildings. However, Rutherford Institute attorneys have concluded that the City of Waynesboro’s Zoning Board has been erroneously interpreting its ordinances in such a way as to require churches to apply for conditional use permits to establish the temporary shelters, and has even excluded some churches from applying for permits at all. Under Waynesboro’s city code, a church must apply for a permit if it wishes to perform some activity that would be considered a primary use, if the church has not already been permitted to do that activity. However, as Rutherford Institute attorneys point out, the city’s zoning ordinances do not prohibit mission work of the type Pastor Miller and his colleagues wish to undertake.
In fact, as constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead noted in a December 2011 letter to the City of Waynesboro, sheltering the homeless—particularly during the cold winter months—is an important historical function of Christian churches. Moreover, because this mission work to protect families and individuals from the elements is purely a function of religious exercise by devout individuals and groups in Waynesboro, any restriction on that work should be examined in light of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, and other federal and state laws that protect religious organizations. In an appearance before the Planning Commission, Institute attorney Rita Dunaway will argue that under a proper interpretation of the City’s ordinance, the provision of temporary shelter for those in need should be permitted by right, as it is an “accessory” use for a church. Dunaway will provide the Commission with a selection of cases from other jurisdictions where courts have specifically found that sheltering the homeless is an accessory use for places of religious worship.
