16 hours ago
Colorado church wins right to shelter homeless in RVs after legal battle with Castle Rock
A years-long legal battle between the Colorado town of Castle Rock and a local church has finally reached a resolution.
It all started when the town ordered The Rock Church to stop sheltering the homeless in two RVs on its property. The town claimed it was a zoning violation, but the church argued it was their religious duty to help the homeless and said the town was violating their religious freedoms.
The two parties have now reached a settlement that allows the church to shelter the homeless in up to five additional RVs beyond what they previously had.
"It's actually a mandate in the Bible to take care of your neighbors, to love your neighbor as yourself, to take care of those that are struggling," said Rock Church lead pastor Mike Polhemus.
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When Polhemus filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Castle Rock, he was prepared for it to go all the way to the Supreme Court.
"We're really fighting for the churches to be able to have their religious freedom, to do the things that we're called to do according to what the scripture commands us to do," Polhemus said.
The church's first victory came last July, when a judge granted a preliminary injunction allowing them to resume sheltering people while the case moved forward.
The church quickly moved a Parker family of eight in, who stayed for three months.
"Now they're they're doing great. They're in their own home. They have a vehicle now," Polhemus said. "They're so thankful that we were able to help them in one of their greatest times of need."
This month brought a final win for the church, with a settlement allowing them to shelter people in up to seven RVs on their property.
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The settlement states the town may choose to pay for and install fencing to screen the RVs from neighbors. The town must also pay $225,000 of the church's legal fees.
The terms of the settlement also allow the church to operate a coffee shop on site, as well as partner with the American Red Cross as an emergency shelter in Castle Rock.
The Town of Castle Rock shared a joint statement saying:
"On May 13, 2024, the Church of the Rock ("the Rock") filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The Rock sought and received a court order enjoining the Town from enforcing its land-use laws to prohibit the Rock's operation of its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry, through which the Rock provides shelter to those in need in trailers on its property, during the pendency of the case.
Since the Court issued its injunction order, the Rock and the Town have sought to resolve this dispute without further litigation. As part of those efforts, on December 2, 2024, the Town issued a revised Letter of Determination that explicitly permits the Rock to operate its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry in the two trailers currently located on the Rock's property and clarifies that the applicable Planned Development zoning regulations do not prevent the Rock from providing additional shelter during public emergencies through its partnership with the Red Cross.
The Town and the Rock now wish to inform the public that they have reached an agreement intended to end the current litigation and settle issues regarding the future use of the Rock's property to provide temporary housing to those in need. 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. 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.
The Town acknowledges the Rock's invaluable services to the Castle Rock community through its longstanding efforts to provide support for those members of our community most in need. The Rock acknowledges its responsibilities as a good neighbor and looks forward to working in partnership with the Town while providing those services. The Town and the Rock believe that this agreement is in the best interest of all parties and successfully balances the Rock's religious free-exercise rights with the Town's public interest in enforcing land use regulations and protecting the general welfare, public health, and safety. The Town and the Rock are no longer in an adversarial posture in regard to the litigation and look forward to productive cooperation and potential partnerships on issues in the future."
The town looks forward to cooperating with the church in the future, a sentiment Polhemus shares.
"We love the Town of Castle Rock. We love everything that they're doing. And our hope is that we can actually work together," Polhemus said. "We're not here to hurt our community, we're actually here to help the community. One of the ways we can do this is help those that are struggling, help our neighbors that have become homeless or in a bad situation, and we can bring them in and quickly get them back on their feet and into a sustainable position and integrated back into society."
Today, two people live temporarily in the RVs on site, and the church will set up more RVs as needed.
"We find is a lot of the people that are struggling, they don't just need a shelter, but they need people to come alongside them and to really help them in their greatest time of need," Polhemus said.
Now that the conflict is settled with the town, the church hopes to explore building workforce housing on their land, an idea that was not popular with neighbors.
"I know there's concerns from the neighbors that this is going to reduce their property values and increase crime rates, and I would say to this date, we have done nothing of that sort, and do not plan to do that," Polhemus said.
Polhemus says the church will continue to follow its calling, and he hopes neighbors will join them.
"Christ showed us love when he died on a cross for us," Polhemus said. "My encouragement to our community, to our churches, is that we would respond in the same love that Christ had for us, and lay down our lives for one another. And one of the ways we do that is by helping those that are struggling with housing."
