By ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

CANTON — The Christian Fellowship Center will have to wait a little longer to learn if the village Zoning Board of Appeals might allow it to use the building at 25 Court St. as a church.

Village code enforcer Jeffrey Murray several weeks ago denied the CFC’s application to set up its Canton congregation at the address. The organization then sought reinterpretation of Murray’s decision by the ZBA.

The ZBA at its meeting Monday, Dec. 17, held off ruling on the denial to await more legal advice from village attorney Gerald Ducharme.

A final decision on the CFC’s request for a ruling must be issued by the ZBA by Jan. 29, 2019.

The property, recently the home of The Club restaurant and other popular eateries over the years, is located in a C1 commercial zone. The C1 zone is dedicated mainly to retail and commercial development, and expressly denies churches and religious organizations to operate there. Murray denied the church’s application based on the code.

At a public hearing hosted by the ZBA last month, Canton CFC pastor Jamie Sinclair asked the board to overrule the code enforcer’s ruling because he felt the CFC fit the definition of a fraternal, social, educational or philanthropic organization, each uses allowed under the C1 zone.

Sinclair in turn, also cited the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) which prevents discrimination of religious institutions in code matters.

The CFC has an accepted purchase offer on the property with owner Custmo Inc., a holding company operated by executive officer Alfred Cassare, but has not closed on the deal yet.

Last week, the CFC was denied a separate application to use The Club building for office space by the Canton Village Planning Board. The Planning Board denied the office use because the ZBA was still dealing with the related matter before them, and also because the CFC would still be a church or religious organization operating at a building in a C1 commercial zone, be it office use or not, which is not allowed by the C1 code.

At their meeting Monday, the ZBA mulled over several of the issues raised at last month’s hearing, notably the state Division of Alcohol Beverage Control’s 200-foot alcohol setback rule. The rule prevents establishments with liquor licenses from operating within 200 feet, entrance to entrance, from a church.

That rule can be found online at http://www.nyc.gov/html/mancb3/downloads/cb3docs/sla-200-500ft-rule.pdf.

Future businesses like restaurants which seek a state liquor license to operate within 200 feet of the entrance of the 25 Court St. building would be faced with appealing the rule for their case at a state level.

ZBA chairman Conrad Stuntz presented the ZBA members and Sinclair with aerial pictures of the 25 Court Street block from Google Earth. The pictures featured a rough outline circling the number of buildings that would be within the 200-foot setback space should the CFC take up residence at 25 Court. About 13 buildings featuring multiple units could fall within the setback.

ZBA board member alternate Andy Whittier pointed out that a simple variance would not suffice for those businesses. “You can’t provide a variance, which means everything in that zone is impacted,” said Whittier.

“It’s almost less about what’s in that space right now and more about future opportunities,” said Whittier.

“It would jeopardize new business there,” said ZBA member Sally McElhearn.

The board also looked at the history of the village’s zoning laws. A 2006 revision of the village zoning code disallowed churches and funeral homes in the C1 zone, citing issues like traffic flow.

Stuntz said that after reading the 2006 minutes of planning board meetings dealing with the revision, he felt there was an intentional, conscious effort to try to recreate the C1 district without churches in it.

Board members did discuss parking concerns of a church operating at the lot. While parking was a public concern, the ZBA members were not sure if it was something that should impact their ruling.

During discussion, Sinclair said the church does have written permission to use the parking lot across the street at 30 Court St. However, ZBA board member Debbie Gilson questioned that.

“I talked to one of the owners and he gave me the impression that it was not in writing,” Gilson said to Sinclair.

The ZBA also briefly discussed the federal RLUIPA and how it may apply in the situation.

Stuntz pointed out that the board was working with Ducharme on a legal stance for the issue in light of RLUIPA, but there were three key questions involved. First, is denying the CFC use of the lot a substantial burden? Second, is it treating the organization less than equal? And, third, is it discriminatory to deny them use of a property in the village’s C1 zone which does not allow churches?

“I don’t feel that our code discriminates against churches, I fell our code allows churches in a lot of our zones,” said Stuntz.

Public comment was allowed at the end of the ZBA meeting, with several residents voicing opposition to the CFC’s plan.

“It seems pretty cut and dry to me whether they are a church. I agree they do charitable work,” said local business owner Hailey Hodge. She said her friends who are CFC members, however, do not refer to the CFC as their charitable organization, but rather as their church.

“I think we can agree that there is a religious aspect to a church, and not necessarily to a non-profit,” said Canton resident Ben Landry. Landry said the description of the property when it was put on the market for sale listed allowed uses under its C1 zone. “So the burden is self-imposed by Mr. Sinclair deciding to buy property that wasn’t zoned for his use.”

“What I want to see is that this remains a place where I can go to eat,” said Dr. Mike Oakley who lives in Canton. “We live in a food desert. All these things are important, but for me, I want a place where I can walk with my family down to the park and go get something to eat. . . If we give this opportunity up, our community is going to lose a little bit of its vibrancy.”