The fight over a megachurch in Milton has moved to a new front as opponents file suit
The fight against a 2,000-seat church in Milton isn’t over yet.
An activist group has filed a lawsuit in an effort to prevent an Edgewood church from moving to 20 acres in a Milton neighborhood.
Salvation Slavic Baptist Church filed for a conditional use permit in April 2019 for 1707 23rd Ave. Plans submitted include a 92,000-square-foot church, holding up to 2,000 people, a 7,500-square-foot gym, a 26-student classroom and 546 parking stalls.
A group of residents appealed the project to a hearing examiner. The seven-month process ended earlier this month with the hearing examiner siding with the church.
Hearing examiner Stephen Causseaux issued his decision Sept. 30. Causseaux said the proposal does not break any city code restrictions on development because there are no restrictions.
Citizens for a Small Town Milton brought suit Oct. 18 in the Pierce County Superior Court. The group claims the examiner wrongly concluded that the city’s comprehensive plan lacked standards for determining whether the megachurch would be compatible in the neighborhood.
“The church will destroy the small town character in the residential area where it is proposed and generate significant adverse aesthetic, land use, traffic, environmental and other impacts, all to the extreme detriment of the association and its members,” the complaint said.
The group also claimed the examiner viewed the church favorably because the development was a religious institution.
One of the group’s organizers, Chris Philips, previously told The News Tribune the group has spent more than $36,000 on experts, attorneys and studies in an attempt to stop the development. Their experts said that there will be impacts to the environment, traffic and noise, despite the city’s conclusion that there will be no significant impacts.
The complaint asks a judge to instruct the city to throw out the church’s application.
Asked about the application reaching the courts, Milton’s mayor Shanna Styron-Sherrell said the city declines to comment on pending litigation. The project has caused larger issues in the city of Milton. The former Public Works Director quit sooner than expected over the development, and the city has placed a moratorium on new development in neighborhoods as they work on the city code.
The Salvation Slavic Baptist Church project manager Andrew Chepel said the church has no comments at this time.
The church is currently at 10622 8th St. in Edgewood. The church also runs a school program from kindergarten through 10th grade.
According to the hearing decision, the Salvation Slavic Baptist Church congregation is largely families who immigrated to this country from Russia to escape religious persecution. The church told the hearing examiner it has outgrown its Edgewood facilities, counting 1,200 church members and 180 students.
