After big effort, church gets building permit

By RICHARD KOE

CLACKAMAS -- Calvary Chapel Southeast was finally granted a permit to locate its home in an industrial-zoned area after appealing the county planning commission’s denial of a permit.

Larry Epstein, county hearings officer, reversed the planning commission on April 21 and granted the permit based on the observation that this was the only suitable location to meet the church’s need.

Roger Ho, attorney for the non-profit Pacific Justice Institute of Citrus Heights, Calif., represented the church at the hearing, defending the constitutionality of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and arguing that the act protected the right of the church to use the land, since there was no compelling reason by the planning commission to exclude churches from the business park.

Assistant Pastor Frank Hedrick said the resource and representation by the institute was vital in the outcome of the case. “This isn’t our area of legal expertise, and it’s nice to know we were not going it alone,” he said.

Pacific Justice Institute is a legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights, and other civil liberties. It is currently representing more than two dozen churches facing similar land use struggles with local governments.

The industrial-zoned two-story building is in a very visible location at the corner of Oregon Highway 224 and S.E. Pheasant Court, a mile west of Interstate 205. Senior Pastor Doug Snow said the building has been vacant for three years, and the owner is anxious to lease some 16,000 square feet to the church. “We feel the Lord wants us to be there!” said Snow.

Calvary Chapel Southeast has already occupied a small portion of the building since January for adminstrative office space. The next step is to work out lease arrangements for the building and to build out the walls and ceiling to house the sanctuary. “With the help of our own church volunteers, we hope to be ready by September,” Snow noted..

Snow has already installed an exterior church sign visible from the highway.

Parking is plentiful at the location, and the new facilities will probably be used almost every night by various church groups and activities, plus Sunday and midweek services. It will be a full-service building with fellowship hall, kitchen, classrooms, and offices.

Until next fall, the church will continue to hold Sunday morning worship services at the Lents Elementary School auditorium in southeast Portland. The congregation, 10 years old last March, started with meetings in a house. It later moved into a Methodist church building for classes and into the school for worship services.

The church now has some 400 adults plus children, and most are young families and new believers. There are five full-time pastors and two part-time. It is affiliated with other Calvary Chapels started in the mid-1970’s by Chuck Smith in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Snow was part of Smith’s church in 1973-78, going to Southern California from Leavenworth, Wash. He later came to the Portland area and attended Multnomah Bible College. Snow had planned to return to Washington State, but was asked by Calvary Chapel Portland to start a work in Clackamas County, leading to the formation of Calvary Chapel Southeast. For more information about the church, call 503-794-8366.