Church has green light to build structures, parking lot

There are changes of biblical proportions coming down the pipe for the tiny, rural community of Emma.

As part of a settlement of a long-standing lawsuit, Pitkin County commissioners on Wednesday reversed their 2005 denial of Grace Church of the Roaring Fork Valley's proposal to build 15,500 square feet of church buildings on an 18.5-acre former sheep ranch in the heart of the midvalley hamlet.

"This is by far the toughest decision I've ever had to make in my 23 years as an elected official," Commissioner Jack Hatfield told a roomful of furious Emma-area homeowners, who begged commissioners to continue fighting the proposal and protect the area's rural feel and open space.

"We're asking you to be true to yourselves and your own convictions with respect to this area of the county," said Dick Bird, who owns property adjacent to the Grace Church property. "You need to take this thing to court."

"You're giving up a valuable opportunity to test the strength of the county's regulations," said Emma resident Parker Maddux, a lawyer himself. Other residents argued that the 197-space parking lot planned by the church will exacerbate traffic safety issues at an already treacherous intersection on Highway 82, potentially requiring a new traffic light. All made clear that they do not object to the church's right to religious practice.

"There's no way to disagree with you," Commissioner Michael Owsley told the homeowners. "How can you feel good about this decision? There just isn't a good outcome for this."

Commissioners originally denied Grace Church's application in 2005 because, they said, it violated the land-use code and was at odds with the rural, agricultural character of the neighborhood. That move landed the county in federal court when Grace Church sued the county for violating its congregation's civil and constitutional rights, and for violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, or RLUIPA. The latter act precludes local governments from imposing land-use regulations that create a "substantial burden" on religious practices and institutions, unless there is a compelling public interest to do so.

So far, RLUIPA has held up in every appeals court ruling, County Attorney John Ely said. If the county were to lose the case, scheduled for trial Jan. 14 - a likely prospect given the outcomes of past suits and the intimations of presiding Judge Richard P. Matsch, he said - it would risk losing control of land use on the parcel entirely. Settling would "resolve litigation and preserve as much board control as possible," Ely explained to elected officials.

Commissioners looked upset and tired as they voted 4-1 to accept the settlement and allow the church to be built. Commissioner Patti Clapper was the lone dissenting vote.

"I'm not comfortable with the terms of the proposal before us," she said, noting that she is one who is "known for taking on the feds" in previous battles with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Her statement drew applause from the crowd of homeowners.

The settlement allows the construction of an 8,800-square-foot sanctuary and chapel for the 80-to-100-member Protestant congregation, as well as a 3,800-square-foot expansion structure, a 2,400-square-foot residential structure, 500 square feet of basement space, and a 197-slot parking lot. The county has also agreed to pay all the church's legal fees, and at least $350,000 in exchange for a covenant on the property.

That covenant limits the property to the listed improvements. After 10 years, the property will be bound by the limits of the land-use code in perpetuity, according to the resolution adopted by commissioners. RLUIPA applies only to the land-use code, not to covenants, Ely said.


EMMA FEARS

The Emma residents at the meeting expressed fear that that will not be enough to stop further development on the parcel, and that the county will set a precedent, inviting other churches to take advantage of the rural area.

"You give them everything they want, plus money, plus legal fees," said Emma Caucus board member David Kelly. "That looks like a tough pill for the county to swallow."

Emma resident Owen Minney, who has gone through numerous land-use applications for the defunct Emma Store buildings on his property, offered that he himself might consider selling his land to a church. Emma resident Rob Rose added that the residents might choose to pursue legal recourse, while another suggested that residents might try to raise enough money to buy the parcel themselves, and stave off potential commercial expansion.

"We're not going to be trying to sneak in a huge development. That's just not going to happen," countered Robert Lees, Grace Church's Denver-based lawyer, who was not present at Wednesday's meeting. He argued that the county had no choice but to accept the settlement.

"If you deny people of faith, whatever their faith, their right to build, that's a constitutional violation, hands down," he said. The church planned to ask the federal court to strike the intergovernmental agreement between Basalt and Pitkin County for due-process violations, and to strike the zoning code for religious institutions.

"Frankly, that's a risk that the county does not want to take," Lees said. "That's something that a developer could get ahold of," potentially leading to a "much worse" situation, in terms of undermining the land-use code.

Now that the county has acted in "good faith," Lees said, the church will return the favor by not seeking punitive relief in a second federal trial having to do with the case. Instead, the church will only ask for things such as reimbursement for the increased cost of construction. Lees added that a status meeting related to that case will likely take place on Monday or Tuesday.

Homeowners were disappointed and disgusted by the situation.

"It's not going to feel like the country anymore when a megachurch moves in," said Emma-area resident Tilly Maddux after the meeting.

Grace Church of the Roaring Fork Valley formed in 2002, after the Basalt Bible Church disbanded and sold its land. The congregation gathers at the Eagle County Community Center.

sarah@aspendailynews.com