Background: Chris Avell’s church in Ohio, Dad’s Place./Inset: Chris Avell and his wife, Lisa Avell. Photos provided by First Liberty Institute.
A pastor slapped with over a dozen criminal zoning charges after he insisted on keeping his church doors open to the homeless has sued a city in Ohio alleging religious discrimination is behind efforts to shudder his sanctuary.
Pastor Chris Avell vows under his Christian faith he is bound to help the hungry and house those without homes at his 24-hour ministry in Bryan, Ohio, known as Dad’s Place.
But officials in the small city outside of Toledo say Dad’s Place turned into a hot spot for “transient” crime starting last spring and allege that Avell had failed for months to adhere to numerous local fire ordinances as well as residential-use rules for his property.
The first floor, Bryan officials said in a press release reviewed by Law&Crime, was not permitted for residential use; the “lives and safety of those in the building” were in potential jeopardy due to things like “improper installation of laundry facilities, inadequate or unsafe exit areas” and more, according to officials.
Avell was arraigned on Jan. 11 and pleaded not guilty. Eleven days later, the pastor decided he wouldn’t take the charges lying down and with his attorney and lawyers at the religious liberty group First Liberty Institute now aiding him, he filed a claim against Bryan officials urging a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction barring the mayor and his officers from enforcing city ordinances.
By doing this, it would allow those who need shelter and food in the cold Ohio winter to be protected and would, moreover, allow the church to continue “using the entirety of its property for religious purposes,” the motion requesting the restraining order argues.
City officials contend Avell has been warned repeatedly about the zoning violations but has ignored them and the offenses have steadily increased since he turned Dad’s Place into a 24/7 facility this past March.
In his lawsuit against the city, the pastor’s attorneys however say that there was a growing disdain toward religious establishments in downtown Bryan since 2020.
Until that year, according to Avell, “the city’s practice had been to provide police support to the sanctuary if it ever housed an unruly guest who refused to leave when asked to do so.”
Avell claims that changed “without warning” and the city “refused to continue providing police support, knowing that its refusal to do so would put the sanctuary in a dire financial state if it were forced to go through civil eviction proceedings every time it asked someone to leave.”
A local sheriff’s office ended up “filling the gap,” Avell’s lawsuit states, but as other ministries showed up, the city allegedly cracked down with ordinance enforcement and according to the pastor, ignored or denied his requests for a conditional use permit.
When he was told in November 2023 that he would have to cease-and-desist housing those who sought shelter at his ministry 24-7, Avell said he refused under a “religious obligation to care for the ‘least of these’ in its community.”
The city retaliated with its 18 separate criminal charges “for the work he performed on behalf of the Church,” the complaint states.
Avell also claims police visited the church “under false pretenses” including claims congregants were “panhandling or using illicit drugs.”
“On another occasion, two members of the City’s fire department and a police officer visited the Property and demanded entry because of the Property’s front door being locked and the public view into the Property being obstructed,” attorneys for Avell wrote in the 50-page filing.
Avell’s lawyers say their client didn’t learn he was charged until it was reported in the press in early December. He retained a lawyer for the church a day after Christmas, the lawsuit notes.
“Counsel for the City refused to agree to any kind of extension of the arraignment, even to allow for time to process pro hac vice applications, and repeatedly attempted to pressure Pastor Avell to appear for his arraignment without the presence of legal counsel,” the pastor alleges.
In a statement to NBC, Bryan City attorney Marc Fishel stood behind the mayor and local fire department for its enforcement efforts, noting there are private apartments one floor above Dad’s Place and that the alleged violations posed a “clear and immediate danger” to all inhabitants including visitors.
Bryan officials have defended claims from Avell that the city has ignored those in need of shelter year-round.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” a city spokesman told NBC this week, noting that there is another facility, the Sanctuary Homeless Shelter, “next to Dad’s Place” that “fully complies” with local rules.
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