A Pueblo church is fighting a municipal code violation on religious grounds, here's why

Nov. 29—After hearing impassioned pleas from Christian Growth Center representatives on Nov. 24, the City of Pueblo's Zoning Board of Appeals opted to take time to consider whether or not to enforce a municipal code violation the church is fighting.

At issue is the church's regular practice of providing a recreational vehicle pad and utility hookup for traveling ministers. The RV pad is located in the church parking lot at 1906 N. Hudson Ave. in East Pueblo.

It is a part of the Bible-based Pentecostal church's hospitality ministry which has been provided to traveling evangelists for more than 30 years, said Andrew Nussbaum, a Denver attorney representing the church.

The problem from the city's viewpoint is that the use "of large scale recreational vehicles is not permitted in the B-3 zone district this property is located within," said Scott Hobson, acting director of planning and community development. Hobson said the church was issued a notice of violation of the Pueblo Municipal Code on May 18.

The church appealed the notice of violation Sept. 30, asserting that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, referred to by its acronym RLUIPA, provides the church authority under federal law to regularly provide a recreational vehicle hookup for ministry guests.

The portion of the act that applies, Nussbaum said, reads, "No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution."

"It seems like a bit of an unusual case for this board. The church's appeal to this board is straightforward," Nussbaum said as he argued that federal law exempts religious institutions from otherwise applicable municipal codes.

Use of the single RV pad is provided to "traveling evangelists and folks connected to the church who have fallen on hard times. It easily falls within RULIPA's definition of religious exercise," he said.

"The way the church worships God revolves around traveling evangelists preaching revivals to its congregants. So, providing hospitality to those evangelists in the form of the RV hospitality ministry is core religious exercise," Nussbaum said.

"The city's attempt to ban that ministry through enforcement of its RV ordinance is thus an obvious burden," under the act, he argued. Traveling ministry is "particularly important to Pentecostalism."

"The RV hospitality ministry is absolutely essential to the church's religious exercise. If the municipal ordinance significantly constrains or inhibits religious exercise, then RULIPA preempts the ordinance as it applies to the church," Nussbaum said.

He said the city ordinance goes beyond constraint and "bans the RV hospitality ministry." He argued the city would have to prove "a specific, compelling interest in enforcing the ordinance in the church here."

He said the church has provided the RV parking for more than 30 years, first at its 2901 Oneal Ave. location and currently at the Hudson Avenue location where the church moved in 2011. The RV ordinance has been in effect in Pueblo since the 1950s.

Rev. Paul Elder said the church's RV hookup was permitted, inspected and approved by the Pueblo Regional Building Department.

"When the violation notice came to me I was in shock," he said.

The Pueblo church hosts 10-to-15 preachers from out of state every year and "nearly all of them live full-time in their RVs. This is their home," he said.

"A group of circuit-riding pastors travel from church to church, town to town spreading the gospel and preaching revivals. Traveling evangels are the lifeblood of our church," Elder explained.

The pay is not substantial and "travel costs are astronomical at today's gas prices," he said, so offering the hookups for traveling pastors is "essential," especially when RV parks are charging as much as $85 a night.

"Our church would suffer greatly if the traveling RV hospitality program would cease. It would drastically change how we worship," Elder said.

Associate Pastor Paul Hicks discussed how the church and the city have worked together on other issues such as the church's construction as well as when the church obtained a variance to allow for its school.

Carol Lee said when her husband, the late David Lee, worked as a traveling evangelist, "we relied heavily on RV ministries." She estimated 380 of the 400 churches they visited had RV ministries and said when her husband's health was failing, the couple used the Christian Growth Center's RV ministry and "it gave us a place to live in our hardest time."

Zoning Board of Appeals Chair Mike Castellucci requested an executive session to get advice from City Attorney Dan Kogovsek.

"This is a complicated case," Kogovsek said, urging the board to take the case under advisement after the executive session then render a written decision at its Dec. 28 meeting.

The five-member board unanimously voted to follow that advice.

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.