By ADAM ATKINSON
North County This Week

CANTON — The village Zoning Board of Appeals plans to confer with village attorney Gerald Ducharme on several issues surrounding the Christian Fellowship Center’s application to interpret local zoning code.

Over 150 people turned out at a public hearing Nov. 28 to voice support for or against the CFC buying and operating from the lot at 25 Court St., formerly known as The Club.

The church is attempting to close on the purchase of the former restaurant building and lot.

The CFC’s desire to use the building there as a church, however, was recently shot down by village code enforcer Jeff Murray based on his interpretation of the C1, or commercially zoned, lot.

The village code does not specifically allow churches to operate in the C1 zone, but does allow them to operate in R1, R2, university, and B1 zones, which are found throughout the village.

The ZBA has 62 days from a public hearing to make a determination to affirm, deny or modify the church’s request.

Several issues were brought up at the public hearing that the ZBA will follow up on.

Notably a 1987 code revision did allow churches in a C1 zone, but that changed to deny them in a 2006 revision, the most up-to-date version. ZBA Chairman Conrad Stuntz said the board should look at the history of that decision and the reasons behind it.

Also at question is the effect the village’s liquor license setbacks in proximity to churches would have on the surrounding businesses close to the lot, many of them restaurants.

Finally, Stuntz said allowing the church to be classified as one of the allowed use categories in C1 — fraternal, social, educational or philanthropic — needs to be researched.

“If we pass this, this is precedent setting,” Stuntz said during the ZBA’s regular meeting.

During the hearing, Stuntz ran a tight ship, keeping comments directed on the zoning matter at hand and allowing both sides to speak.

Canton CFC pastor Jamie Sinclair presented the board with the CFC application to interpret the code, along with several documents to plead the case. He notably referenced the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) which prevents discrimination of religious institutions in code matters.

His main argument however, was that the existing restrictions for the C1 code would allow the CFC to operate at 25 Court. The C1 zone does allow for fraternal, social, educational and philanthropic organizations to operate on lots in the C1 zone. The CFC believes they meet the legal definitions of each of these categories, said Sinclair at the hearing, highlighting examples.

“Our request is to use the property at 25 Court Street as a church,” said Sinclair.

“I firmly believe that a more generous interpretation of the law is legitimate,” Sinclair said. “And it would not impugn the reputation of this village of Canton and further escalate this issue.”

“As a business owner and property owner on an adjacent property, I recently learned that in order to get a liquor license, you are unable to get a liquor license if you are within 200 feet of a church,” said Jay Street resident Brooke Rouse.

Rouse said her property, as well as others, were located inside of that setback limit if a church operated from 25 Court St.

“So while I appreciate the comments about discrimination, I’m concerned about the discrimination against existing businesses and potential business development, really blocking out half of our downtown business district from any sort of establishment that may require a liquor license.”

“There are 3,000 people in Canton village and, the CFC, they have 100 parishioners that would use the church. This is less than 3 percent of the Canton population,” said Morgan Hastings of Pearl Street. Hastings said a quote from the CFC in a recent news article said the church hoped that government officials would have “open hearts and minds.”

“But in letting CFC have the Club, we are not actually opening our hearts, but are actually opening our wallets to pay for the taxes of the public parking they will use that our businesses pay for,” Hastings said.

“The CFC would be hard pressed to prove that it's a burden on them to deny them the Club, and that’s what they would have to prove in a lawsuit if they were going to follow through with that,” Hastings said.

Ben Landry of Canton said Sinclair brought up the freedom to practice religion during his opening argument to the ZBA board.

“I would also submit as somebody who is not religious that I have a right to be free of religion if I so desire,” Landry said. “And this town has made mistakes before in giving its public property to churches. The Green was once public and now it is owned by a church. I have nothing against that church, but the ownership impinges on public use of that property. . . That impinges my First Amendment rights.”

Landry said the C1 code uses would say “religious institution” as a use for that property if it was allowed. “But it does not say that.”

“The Club has historically been a space for everyone in the community to gather. Restaurant, club, it’s for everyone,” said Julie Manders of Canton. “But if it's a church it's only for certain people who want to be involved in that church. And, I think it is exclusionary to be used that way. We don’t have that many spaces that are available to everybody in this town.”

Rick Sinclair, the CFC senior pastor, a Canton village resident, and father of Jamie Sinclair, said the C1 zone allows for many different uses, but not all of them are taken advantage of by citizens.

C1 allows for banks and stores, but residents don’t necessarily have to frequent those establishments even though the doors are open to them, Rick Sinclair said.

“What it means is that something is there that could be taken advantage of by all the citizens and that’s really what CFC is, and really what churches are in general,” Rick Sinclair said. “We don’t expect that everybody in the town or village is going to come to CFC Canton, but it's available there for those who choose to. Just like all of the other institutions.”

“The word ‘Commercial’ is pretty cut and dry. There really isn't a lot of subjectivity to that word,” Kimber Petrie of Canton said. “Commercial means for-profit, taxable, contributing to our tax base.”

Danny Faye, a local Canton developer, said that the village code already does provide for churches in certain zones. He pointed out that as a developer he had to abide by the code.

“Churches are not allowed in the C1 district. It's very simple. Not allowed,” said Nick Kocher, planning board member who was speaking as a community member. “Canton is not saying we don’t welcome the church. We are saying churches are not allowed in that zone. There are better uses for that property.”

Kocher cautioned against making an exemption this time and setting a precedent, which would almost be the same as allowing complicated spot zoning.

A smattering of applause was quickly tamped down by ZBA Chairman, Conrad Stuntz who advised the gallery on civility.

“In a public hearing, it gets combative and pushing if people start clapping one way or the other. This is a public hearing where you give your input. We listen. We do our best. If we are all respectful of each other and you want to hold a private conversation with an individual later, that’s great. Hold a private conversation. Clapping, cheering does not lead to people wanting to share because they feel like their voice is not being heard,” Stuntz said.

Many CFC members attended the hearing to voice support for the CFC and its role in their lives.

“I settled into the area because of my involvement with the church,” said member John Meyers of Potsdam, who had attended the CFC since he was a Clarkson student in 1981. He said his children also settled here for the same reason.

Local economics professor Bob Blewett, also a church member, said people seem to be making a distinction on whether the church is going to pay taxes or not. “That’s not a legitimate, I don’t believe that’s a legitimate Constitutional argument to be made.”

Carson Smith a recent Clarkson graduate living in Potsdam, and a church member, said he and his family are looking to relocate to Canton partly because of the CFC’s growing presence there.

“I think it's in the interest of the village to try . . . to try if possible to find a generous interpretation. I don’t think it would be good for the village or the church if this has to escalate to a federal level,” said Jamie Sinclair.

“To use different terminology for a ‘church’ strikes me as being so much a waste of time,” said Main Street resident Rod Tozzi. “A church is a church is a church. That’s like me calling my firearms and ammunition transfer service a handheld wireless security device and accessories. Do you get what I’m driving at? I can use terms too, that muddy the waters.”

Tozzi said no one had addressed the code officers initial ruling on the issue, which was that a church operating in the C1 zone does not meet code. He said many people who had relocated to Canton and bought into the area followed that code. "If you are going to start doing spot zoning, then that's going to change the whole dynamic of the area," Tozzi said.

Canton yoga teacher Sarah Oakley, a member of the Unitarian church, said she had had many positive interactions with the parishioners of the CFC and had met several members who were “savvy” businesspeople.

“I welcome them here, and I welcome them to have a church home in the community,” Oakley said. She said, however, that she would like to see a business at 25 Court St., preferably a restaurant. “So put your church somewhere outside of that zone and someone from the CFC community open a restaurant there, or open a different business there that is going to sustain economic development in that zone.”

No comments were voiced regarding LGBTQ issues that had been raised in opinion sections of North Country This Week and other media.

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Members of the village Zoning Board of Appeals discuss the points raised during the public hearing. North Country Now photos by Adam Atkinson.