- October 31, 2024
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No new showers. No new laundry facilities. No new bathrooms. The city of Bunnell was unwilling to approve those upgrades at the First United Methodist Church of Bunnell as long as there's any question that the requested facilities might be used for homeless people rather than the disaster relief workers the church hosts during declared emergencies.
The church and the city have been battling over the use of the church to host the county's only cold weather shelter, called the Sheltering Tree, since the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board on May 31 ordered the church to stop serving as a cold weather shelter.
"Eliminating the church as an option for disaster response temporary housing ... would be a mistake."
— MICHAEL KUYPERS, trustee, First United Methodist Church of Bunnell
That meeting, as well as subsequent meetings about the issue, drew comments from local residents who said the church's efforts to aid the homeless have been attracting homeless people to the residential neighborhood around the church, where they trespass, drink and do drugs, and intimidate the customers of nearby businesses.
Meanwhile, church and Sheltering Tree volunteers replied that the Sheltering Tree is open only infrequently — when the weather drops below 40 degrees, as it did just 19 nights last year — and that homeless people would be in Bunnell whether the church aids them or not.
But even as the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board, at its May 31 meeting, shut down the Sheltering Tree — a decision the Sheltering Tree has said it plans to appeal — it agreed to approve another request from the church: The construction of new, ADA-compliant bathrooms, and the addition of new showers for teams of United Methodist disaster volunteers who use the church as a base during emergencies. The Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board made that approval contingent on the church updating its fire protection system and limiting the size of relief teams staying overnight to six people. The board also noted in its approval that the new additions are not to be used for the homeless.
But Bunnell Community and Economic Development Director Rodney Lucas, who'd challenged church volunteers at the May 31 meeting for not properly following city procedure, appealed that approval to the City Commission, prompting the discussion at the commission's June 24 meeting.
At the beginning of the meeting, he laid out a series of complaints about the church's behavior: That the shelter has been operating without city permission, that the church doesn't meet fire/life safety standards for overnight stays, that it doesn't have enough on-site parking, and that its business tax receipt has not been updated to reflect its use as a shelter. Lucas also said there has been a "lack of communication with the neighbors and the city about when this type of use ... is occurring, to alert the city a higher level of city services may be needed and allow accommodations and preparations to occur."
"I’m not altogether convinced that there’s a big need for showers at the Methodist Church. ... I feel like they would be used for more than just (emergency workers)."
— ELBERT TUCKER
Church trustee Michael Kuypers responded that the church in fact does have a business tax receipt and a license to conduct relief work, and that it has not failed recent fire inspections and does have a fire inspection certificate.
"I know for a fact that finding a place to billet and sleep (volunteers) is extremely difficult," Kuypers said. "A lot of times there’s just nothing available, because of the damage. ... Eliminating the church as an option for disaster response temporary housing ... would be a mistake."
Volunteers stayed at the church for months after the recent hurricanes, he said, and "were totally unobtrusive to the neighborhood." He noted that visiting relief teams also help the local economy by eating at local restaurants and getting gas at local gas stations.
The Rev. Terry Wines, the church's lead pastor, reminded commissioners and audience members that the matter at issue for the June 24 meeting was the use of the church to house emergency workers, not the homeless.
"What we believe is opening our doors to relief workers to come and do work in our community and beyond is a biblical act," Wines said. "The Sheltering Tree is a separate issue."
But other speakers repeatedly said they saw the issues as linked: They were willing to support the use of the church for emergency teams, they said, but feared the facilities added for relief workers would end up being used of the homeless.
"Yes, this may not be about that, but no, I don’t trust them to just use the showers for the emergency workers," said resident Roberta Nelson.
Elbert Tucker, a Bunnell resident and former Bunnell city commissioner, questioned the need for showers.
"I’m not altogether convinced that there’s a big need for showers at the Methodist Church," he said. "I feel like they would be used for more than just (emergency workers)."
The Rev. James Bellino, pastor at the Church on the Rock, on U.S. 1, said there was nothing unusual about what the church is requesting: Even when there isn't an emergency, he said, churches often host missionary teams.
"The church is trying to provide regular services that they have provided since they incorporated and became a part of this community," Bellino said.
Mayor Catherine Robinson said the real issue is the showers and emergency workers; the bathroom upgrade only requires a building permit.
Commissioner Jan Reeger said the church is working at cross purposes to itself, "attempting to do two different things that are in conflict with each other."
"I think with these cross purposes in play, I would have a problem ... even with the emergency scenario," she said. "My inclination would be to deny the exception with a provision that if they wish to come back to us at a later time, we wouldn't charge the application fee."
The board voted unanimously in favor of her motion, overturning the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board's previous approval.
