BRYAN, Ohio — The Williams County church known as Dad's Place filed an appeal in federal court Tuesday, seeking immediate relief from what it described as "continued harassment" from the city of Bryan, Ohio, which has cited the church and its pastor for alleged fire code violations when housing the homeless.
Dad's Place's legal representation said in the press release they had filed the appeal seeking emergency relief after a federal judge denied their preliminary injunction.
Dad's Place began helping the unhoused in March 2023. However, in November, city officials issued an ultimatum to the church to stop operating 24 hours a day or face legal penalties. Pastor Chris Avell faced nearly two dozen criminal charges for keeping his church open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The charges included zoning violations for running a church that sheltered the unhoused, to which he pleaded not guilty in January.
The charges were dropped and the case was settled Feb. 1, with a resolution of the city representing to the court that it "would take no further enforcement actions against the church," according to a statement issued by the legal representation for Dad's Place.
However, Avell was cited in April on a first-degree misdemeanor fire code violation following a fire inspection. The citations against Dad's Place carry a $1,000 fine each day they go unfixed.
The city claimed Dad's Place was allowing individuals to sleep overnight in the church, but that fire inspections revealed "numerous" fire code violations, including the absence of an automatic sprinkler system, which is required under Ohio law.
The appeal argues the city's charges against Avell and the church burden the church's religious exercise and violates the Free Exercise Clause of the US and Ohio constitutions.
“Like churches throughout history, Dad’s Place wants to be a place of safety for those in desperate need,” said Philip Williamson of Taft Stenttinius & Hollister LLP in a press release. “We are hopeful that the Sixth Circuit will recognize that Ohio and federal law alike protect vital ministries like Dad’s Place.”
In response to the appeal, the city of Bryan reiterated the reasonings of the judge's initial ruling.
"The City’s enforcement of its ordinances requires Dad’s Place to adhere to specific safety protocols for residential use," the judge wrote in the ruling. "This does not mean Dad’s Place cannot operate as a residence on its current property or cannot practice its religion. It simply means that it should find a compliant way to pursue its new objective.”
Meanwhile, Dad's Place argued in the appeal that the city's enforcement of its fire code is neither neutral nor generally applicably, and claimed that the city treats comparable secular activities with more favor than the church's religious activities. Dad's Place said in the appeal, "the Church’s loss of its First Amendment rights is irreparable harm."
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Dad's Place requested from the federal judge an injunction forbidding the city of Bryan from enforcing its zoning or building codes in what they claimed was a way that burdened the church's religious exercise.
The city of Bryan, however, claimed Dad's Place's allegations of the city harassing it were "baseless," and reiterated its stance on the citations against the church.
“The answers here are simple – but so important," said Bryan mayor Carrie Schlade in the press release. "Keep people safe. Follow our laws. We will never back away from those principles.”
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