A Colorado town has agreed to a settlement with a local church that allows the congregation to operate a homeless shelter on its property while also paying $225,000 in legal fees.
The Town of Castle Rock and Rock Church released a joint statement last Friday announcing an end to the litigation between the two parties, which began last year.
“As part of this agreement, a new Letter of Determination will permit the Rock to operate its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry located in its existing parking lot,” they stated.
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“The Town has the option to install additional fencing or landscaping to partially screen the location of the units from the surrounding neighborhood in accordance with the terms of the agreement.”
According to the official Settlement Agreement and Release, Castle Rock agreed to pay $225,000 in attorney fees that the church incurred during the legal proceedings.
First Liberty Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys, whose organization helped to represent the church, released a statement last week celebrating the settlement.
“This is a welcome resolution that goes far to encourage churches who care for those in need and a good example of the type of cooperation between church and state that every community should welcome,” stated Dys.
In recent years, Rock Church has provided shelter for the homeless in campers on its property. It has also been looking into building short-term housing on its campus.
In November 2023, Castle Rock officials posted a statement on the town website explaining that the church needed to amend its “development plan to allow for additional uses.”
“The church’s current zoning does not allow housing. If the church wants to pursue changes to its zoning, it needs to submit a formal application to the Town. Before submitting an application, they would have to hold a public neighborhood meeting,” stated officials.
“At least three public neighborhood meetings would be required as part of the process. Properties within 500 feet of the church’s land would receive mailed notices from the church, along with additional notice requirements.”
The church sued the town last year, arguing that the local restrictions violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and hindered its ministry efforts.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico, a Trump appointee, granted The Rock Church a preliminary injunction in July of last year against Castle Rock.
“The Church stresses that by preventing it from allowing the homeless to live on its property, the Town is precluding the Church from exercising its religious beliefs regardless of whether it might be possible to provide for the needy in some other way,” Domenico wrote in a court order.
“To the extent there is a dispute about whether the Church’s stated beliefs actually require it to provide shelter on its own property, there is no reason to second-guess the Church at this point, regardless of how idiosyncratic or mistaken the Town may find its beliefs to be.”
Last December, as part of the efforts to avoid further litigation, the town issued a revised Letter of Determination that explicitly allowed the church to operate the temporary shelter ministry and clarified that they could provide emergency shelter and work with the Red Cross.
