First Lutheran Church in St. Paul leases its basement to Listening House, which offers services to homeless and low-income people. The church sued the city of St. Paul over restrictions from a city ordinance that hampered Listening House.

First Lutheran Church in St. Paul leases its basement to Listening House, which offers services to homeless and low-income people. The church sued the city of St. Paul over restrictions from a city ordinance that hampered Listening House. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Under a proposed zoning ordinance being studied by the city of St. Paul, parishes and religious institutions in that city would be banned from expanding facilities to shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, provide day care for children or adults — or even teach religion, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and other faith groups said.

“I’m very concerned about the potential impact of this zoning ordinance on our St. Paul parishes and all other churches in the city of St. Paul,” said Joseph Kueppers, an attorney and the archdiocese’s chancellor for civil affairs. “If this proposed zoning ordinance is approved, it could lead to costly litigation for any parish wanting to expand their auxiliary space or create an auxiliary space.”

Kueppers is not alone in his worries.

He said he hopes people come out in force for an Oct. 29 public hearing (see sidebar for details). He has notified all 27 parishes in St. Paul about the hearing, and he anticipates working with them and other faith communities to properly address the proposed zoning change.

Activities under the proposed ban on construction also include teaching art, music, dance, adult and general education classes; after-school programs; community center, meeting and performance space and receptions; counseling, social and community services.

Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul has organized an Oct. 21 Zoom meeting with St. Paul City Planner Bill Dermody, whose department has forwarded the zoning proposal to a public hearing (see sidebar for details). Ryan Rehkamp, parish director of Lumen Christi in St. Paul, plans to attend the Oct. 21 meeting and the Oct. 29 hearing. Alerted by a parishioner who saw the proposed ordinance, Rehkamp called Kueppers, who contacted Thomas Kane, an attorney who worked on a lawsuit that led to the proposed zoning change.

Rehkamp said he is concerned about the rules on several levels, including the call for a conditional use permit for social and community services conducted in more than 1,000 square feet of floor area. That’s the size of Lumen Christi’s conference room, Rehkamp said. The regulation could be interpreted to mean that sponsors of all activities would have to apply for a permit, even social card games and the annual gathering for a movie and hot cocoa put on by the parish men’s group for children of the parish and school, he said.

Kueppers said under that interpretation, parishes that have a school as a ministry also may need a conditional use permit in St. Paul for their school’s present activities. “It’s just not clear,” he said.

How this began

The entire process began when First Lutheran Church north of downtown St. Paul sued the city in 2015 over restrictions on leasing its church basement to Listening House, a day-time care center for homeless and low-income people. Those restrictions, prompted by neighbors upset with people walking around the neighborhood, severely hampered Listening House, Kane said. The settlement, reached in 2019, allowed Listening House to stay and to resume operations as before the lawsuit.

The settlement also required the city to study its zoning ordinances and improve the process for land use applications for religious organizations. But the city’s proposed changes leave parishes and other entities worse off than before the lawsuit, Kane said. They include three standards and conditions: “No building additions or new buildings may be constructed for the primary purpose of conducting a religious institution accessory use.” Also, “In residential districts, a conditional use permit is required for social and community services with more than one thousand (1,000) square feet of floor area dedicated to those uses.” The third condition states: “These standards and conditions shall not be applied in a manner that restricts rights to religious exercise granted under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act or other laws.”

Kane and Kueppers said the city’s proposal would violate the U.S. Constitution’s religious protections as well as the federal law it purports to follow — the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). That law prohibits the government from imposing land use regulations that create a substantial burden on religion, unless there is a compelling governmental interest. If regulations are deemed necessary, they must be the least restrictive possible.

Hostile to religion?

The city’s approach, Kane said, demonstrates hostility to religion. City officials fought First Lutheran’s lawsuit and have proposed an ordinance that would unlawfully restrict religious groups from assisting people in need, he said.

“This is not an inadvertent act,” Kane said. “This is an active, hostile act toward religion.”

In a letter to Evan Berquist, Cozen O’Connor’s lead attorney for the First Lutheran case who had inquired about the public hearing, Deputy City Attorney Portia Hampton-Flowers characterized the gathering as part of the zoning study. Berquist said that is misleading.

“They are already enforcing the ordinance as if it’s law,” Berquist said. “In reality, the hearing is just a legal requirement. They need a public hearing before changing the ordinance.”

Still, if enough people testify against the proposed ordinance, pressure might build for the city to change its course, Berquist said. First Lutheran and Cozen O’Connor are not giving up.

“We’re taking this one day at a time,” he said.

INVITATION TO ZOOM MEETING

Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul is inviting all faith leaders to an Oct. 21 Zoom meeting with St. Paul City Planner Bill Dermody, whose department has forwarded the zoning proposal to a public hearing. To register for the 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. meeting go to shorturl.at/fovE4.

There also is an online public hearing on the zoning proposal set for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 29 by the St. Paul Planning Commission. The hearing — to be held virtually to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 — can be accessed via telephone at 612-315-7905 code: 724 356 504# or a Microsoft Teams link at stpaul.gov/planning-commission.