Latest news with #GraceLife
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Church wants property back that it donated for inclusive playground
Apr. 16—Everyday Sunshine Park, a planned inclusive playground, is looking for a new location before work on it began after a church backed out of the project. Grace Life Church requested the city return 30,000 square feet of its property at 1311 19th Ave. S.E., behind Oak Park Elementary School, that it donated for a special needs park in 2023, Community Development Manager Allen Stover told the City Council at Monday's work session. The City Council will vote at its 10 a.m. April 21 meeting on signing the deed back over to the church. Stover said he and former Parks and Recreation Director Jason Lake met with Grace Life representatives several times before Lake retired in February. "The church has had a turnover in pastors, and they just have a desire not to put the park next to their church," Stover said. He said Grace Life originally kept a piece of the land north of the church, which they proposed swapping with the donated land, but he and Lake "didn't think that property was conducive to what we wanted to do." Part of the problem with this property is it's adjacent to a private property owner, Stover said. "We just felt like the best thing to do would be just to give the deed back to them," Stover said. Jeff Sharp, director of the Everyday Sunshine nonprofit, has been working with the city on the project since 2019. "There have been all kinds of hiccups, delays or whatever, that I think the trustees of the church decided to request that the land that they donated just be given back to them," Sharp said. Grace Life pastor Parker Smith said Tuesday that he "doesn't have a comment at this time" on the proposed Everyday Sunshine Park. At an estimated cost of roughly $2 million, the planned park's funding comes from a combination of public and private resources. The city allocated $168,555 in Community Development Block Grant funds to pay for the architect, site work, a parking lot and signage. The grant paid Schoel-Markland Architecture's $85,000 design fee. Stover said what they have spent to this point is basically just on plans on Everyday Sunshine, and they're working with Sharp to see if they can find another location. "We could either help him or give him (Sharp) the plans that are generated for this park," Stover said. Sharp said a "good bit" of the equipment has been purchased or the nonprofit received a pledge to pay for equipment. "The biggest step would be to get a grant to pay for the rubberized, soft wheelchair surface that would be under the playground equipment," Sharp said. Sharp said he feels Everyday Sunshine did its part toward establishing an inclusive park, so it's up to city officials to find a location. Stover and Sharp have looked at a couple of locations, including the city's Jesse Lewis Smith and AC Banks parks. Stover said they particularly like the 3-acre Jesse L. Smith Park, located at 102 Somerville Road N.E., because of its size, "but we're not sure if that's going to work out." Sharp said city officials told him that a decision on the park will now have to wait until the City Council appoints a new Parks and Recreation director. The application period for Parks and Recreation director recently closed. Human Resources Director Richelle Sandlin said the city received 73 applications for the opening. She said she has not gone through the applications yet, so she can present them to the council for consideration. — or 256-340-2432
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Parkland County residents fight GraceLife Church expansion
A church west of Edmonton that made headlines for defying COVID-19 pandemic health rules hopes to add to its existing space but dozens of people who live nearby are fighting the expansion. GraceLife Church in Parkland County plans to build a sanctuary and classroom or gym, adding about 1,500 more seats to the organization's current 348-seat capacity. The county approved the expansion last fall, but dozens of residents and the Enoch Cree Nation oppose the decision saying the county did not provide sufficient notice and they deserve more time to appeal. On Nov. 15, 2024, Parkland County posted the decision on the county's website. In a posted on the county's subdivision and development appeal board agenda, the development authority said the project is compatible with surrounding land uses. The application was circulated to Parkland County's fire prevention, community sustainability, and land development engineering work groups for review and revealed no concerns, the report says. "The development authority determined that the proposed development will not adversely affect the use and enjoyment of neighbouring country residential properties." GraceLife Church made headlines in 2021 for holding in-person services that defied COVID-19 public health orders. Alberta health officials shut down the church in February 2021 after inspectors found it was over capacity and that staff and congregants weren't wearing masks or social distancing. Pastor James Coates had been cited for violating public health orders by holding church services, but charges against him were dropped in 2023. Residents opposed Dozens of residents living in the area oppose the project and formed a collective appellant to present at a subdivision and development appeal board hearing that began Monday. Hiroki Currie, a resident living in Sunset View Acres across the street, is among those opposing the expansion. "The scale of their project and the size that they're looking at building, it's a mega church," Currie said in an interview Monday. "And it feels like it's being forced upon us." Ayman Hassan, also living across the street from the church, remembers the protesters who came to the area when the church was shut down in 2021. "There were buses — busloads of police officers waiting in riot gear if the crowd was, if supporters of GraceLife were not going to disperse," Hassan told CBC News Monday. "And we understand those supporters were not GraceLife members, but their cry of freedom brought all these people out to our community and we needed police to keep people off of our yards." Residents opposing the expansion say the county didn't give them direct notice in sufficient time for them to file a proper appeal. They received notice by mail on Dec. 23, they said, as letters had been delayed because of the Canada Post strike. That was long after the Dec. 6 deadline to file an appeal on the decision. The Parkland County office was then closed for the holidays. Enoch Cree Nation also said the Canada Post strike delayed notices and gave them little time to research and prepare for an appeal. "You can't appeal something that you don't know about," Evan Duffy, a lawyer representing Enoch Cree Nation, told the board Monday. The First Nation should have been consulted and should have been given a copy of the actual application, Duffy added. Rob Chomiak, representing GraceLife Church, told the board that the church is fine with postponing an appeal hearing. The board will decide within 15 days whether to hold a hearing on the church's expansion plans.
CBC
27-01-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Parkland County residents fight GraceLife Church expansion
A church west of Edmonton that made headlines for defying COVID-19 pandemic health rules hopes to add to its existing space but dozens of people who live nearby are fighting the expansion. GraceLife Church in Parkland County plans to build a sanctuary and classroom or gym, adding about 1,500 more seats to the organization's current 348-seat capacity. The county approved the expansion last fall, but dozens of rdesidents and the Enoch Cree Nation oppose the decision saying the county did not provide sufficient notice and they deserve more time to appeal. On Nov. 15, 2024, the Parkland County posted the decision on the county's website. In a written report posted on the county's subdivision and development appeal board agenda, the development authority said the project is compatible with surrounding land uses. The application was circulated to Parkland County's fire prevention, community sustainability, and land development engineering work groups for review and revealed no concerns, the report says. "The development authority determined that the proposed development will not adversely affect the use and enjoyment of neighbouring country residential properties." GraceLife Church made headlines in 2021 for holding in-person services that defied COVID-19 public health orders. Alberta health officials shut down the church in February 2021 after inspectors found it was over capacity and that staff and congregants weren't wearing masks or social distancing. Pastor James Coates had been cited for violating public health orders by holding church services, but charges against him were dropped in 2023. Residents opposed Dozens of residents living in the area oppose the project and formed a collective appellant to present at a subdivision and development appeal board hearing that began Monday. Hiroki Currie, a resident living in Sunset View Acres across the street, is among those opposing the expansion. "The scale of their project and the size that they're looking at building, it's a mega church," Currie said in an interview Monday. "And it feels like it's being forced upon us." Ayman Hassan, also living across the street from the church, remembers the protestors who came to the area when the church was shut down in 2021. "There were buses — busloads of police officers waiting in riot gear if the crowd was, if supporters of GraceLife were not going to disperse," Hassan told CBC News Monday. "And we understand those supporters were not GraceLife members, but their cry of freedom brought all these people out to our community and we needed police to keep people off of our yards." Residents opposing the expansion say the county didn't give them direct notice in sufficient time for them to file a proper appeal. They received notice by mail on Dec. 23, they said, as letters had been delayed because of the Canada Post strike. That was long after the Dec. 6 deadline to file an appeal on the decision. The Parkland County office was then closed for the holidays. Enoch Cree Nation also said the Canada Post strike delayed notices and gave them little time to research and prepare for an appeal. "You can't appeal something that you don't know about," Evan Duffy, a lawyer representing the Enoch Cree Nation, told the board Monday. Enoch Cree Nation should have been consulted and should have been given a copy of the actual application, Duffy added. Rob Chomiak, representing GraceLife Church, told the board that the church is fine with postponing an appeal hearing. The board will decide within 15 days whether to hold a hearing on the church's expansion plans.
