Saratoga News

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Neighbors make a little noise about some noisy events at Serbian church

By Shannon Burkey

A conflict between St. Archangel Michael Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church and the residents in the neighborhood surrounding it brought nearly 200 people to the June 13 planning commission meeting to share their views on the issue.

Neighbors said the noise and parking situation at the church, located at 18870 Allendale Ave., is unbearable. Among other things, they said the church is operating a restaurant and catering business, selling alcohol, holding late-night dances and renting its facilities to the public for non-church-related uses.

The church, on the other hand, disputes that it is operating a restaurant and catering business; it says it holds church lunches and dinners. The church also said the dances it holds are a part of its culture and the activities that take place are church-related.

The issue came before the planning commission so it could make modifications to the church's use permits. Currently, the church has two use permits, one issued in 1961 and the other issued in 1968. Neither has conditions.

"The purpose is to end up with a use permit that would be modified to make it clear to both the church and the neighbors what is allowed and what isn't allowed. There have been a number of specific areas where this divergent point has become focused," assistant city attorney Jonathan Wittwer said.

Among the problems for the neighbors is that the church has a restaurant and liquor license, and the church's activities are open to the public and not specifically for church members.

The church does not dispute the fact that it has licenses, but Wittwer pointed out that because there is a fully operational commercial kitchen on site, the church is required by the county to have a restaurant permit. As for the liquor license, the church said it has had it for many years and serves alcohol at some of the events it holds.

Many of the neighbors do not like the fact that the church has those licenses and say it is operating differently than other churches in Saratoga.

"I'm against having a bar and restaurant in my neighborhood, and I don't think you would like one in yours either," resident Dick Wheeler said to the commission.

Danny Wong, a Saratoga resident since 1998, said he lived next door to the church until 2002 when he and his family finally had enough and changed neighborhoods.

"We couldn't live in the difficult environment created by the church and its activities," Wong said. "In essence, we had to live with morning catering truck deliveries at about 6 a.m. while we were still sleeping, and some of their dances would go on until past midnight. How can we live like that?"

Although Wong said his family received many apologies from the church, it was not enough.

"They don't need to offer any more apologies; they just need to manage their activities in an effective way," he said.

A representative for the neighbors asked the commission to impose several conditions on the church, beginning with having it surrender its liquor and restaurant licenses. The neighbors also asked the church be required to cease all non-religious activities on the property, prohibit on-site catering and the sale of food and alcohol, and limit its special events to two times a year.

Leaders from several of Saratoga's other faith communities came out to support the church, citing concerns about the city deciding what is and is not considered a religious activity, such as fundraising. Some organizations that churches raise funds for or allow to use their facilities are not always religious organizations.

"One really can't describe religious activity in terms of beliefs alone; it has to include the core values of any given faith community because worship and service are coupled theologically," said Arvin Engelson, pastor of care ministries at Saratoga Federated Church. "Part of our worship life is to raise funds for others that are not part of our church and for causes beyond our own existence. In fact, we think it's an immature spirituality to only raise money for your own operations."

The commission was careful as it deliberated, trying not to define what constitutes a religious activity.

"A church is not defined by just the building or the people that happen to be on a particular lot or location. It spans many globes," Commissioner Manny Cappello said.

The commission decided to leave the church's activities and functions open to those things directly related to the religious objective of the church.

As far as the food and liquor license, the commission modified the use permit to say the church could still offer both but only in situations incidental to the church's "organized religious worship, education or objectives."

"My feeling is this basically sets out the ways in which they can do this. They are not a bar, and they don't get to charge people for drinks in that way," Chairwoman Joyce Hlava said.

To try and address the noise complaints, the commission modified the use permit to allow the church to operate Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. These times would exclude Easter and Christmas, when the church would be allowed to hold early morning or midnight services.

"We have put the parameters around it, and what they do within those parameters is the church's business," Commissioner Robert Kundtz said.