Politics & Government

Calvary Day School Denied, Lawsuit Continues

The denial of a special use permit to operate a day school will see a local church continue a discrimination suit against the city of Fredericksburg.

The Fredericksburg City Council unanimously voted to deny a special use permit to Calvary Christian Center to operate a day school for mentally disabled children on their premises. The denial ruins any chances that Calvary Christian Church would drop a discrimination lawsuit filed in federal court against the city over the denial of a similar special use permit late last year. The church had attempted to refile for the permit with an application that included a list of conditions which could alleviate the concerns which city council originally had about the day school and the company church officials want to run it, Fairwinds Day School.

"We're disappointed in the outcome of the vote," said Eric Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian non-profit advocacy group which advocates for religious rights. ADF lawyers are representing Calvary Christian Center in both federal court and at the local level as the church tries to establish the day school. "We were hopeful that the city would agree that that was a resolution of the federal lawsuit and all the other issues, but obviously the city wants to litigate this matter and that's what we'll do."

Last night's public hearing on the matter saw Calvary Pastor Michael Hirsch, watched over by an ADF lawyer, offer a humble apology to the members of the City Council for his behavior at the Aug. 23 meeting of the body.  

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The tension of that hearing reached a peak during questioning from members of the Fredericksburg City Council. Ward 1 Councilor Brad Ellis and at-large Councilor Kerry Devine attempted a series of direct questions to learn details of the the school or schools which the church has been in contact with to operate the day school. Each question was deflected by Hirsch, who asserted that if the special use permit is granted, they could invite any state certified school to operate on site. 

Eventually, the questioning between Ellis and Hirsch devolved into such a garbled back and forth that Mayor Thomas Tomzak called for order and began to more closely moderate the debate. 

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Following that public hearing, the matter went to the Fredericksburg Planning Commission. Staff with the city Department of Planning and Community Development had originally recommended that the Planning Commission approve Calvary's special use permit. raised alarms with city officials. A memo dated Aug. 25 reversed the previous staff opinion and recommended denial of the application. Their concerns centered on wether or not it would be feasible to enforce a list of special conditions on the day school to help ease minds of city leaders on a variety of topics related to the operation of the school. 

"Simple inquiries by City Council members, made in an open session of the governing body, were met with heated outbursts, attacks, obfuscation and plain refusals by the applicant," reads the memo. "If reviewing the proposed conditions with the applicant is this difficult in a public meeting, by members of the governing body, at the application stage, then how much more difficult will it be for administrators to enforce these conditions after the permit is granted."

The Planning Commission ended up rejecting the application by a vote of 6-1. From there it returned to the City Council last night for a final chance at approval. 

With the contentious public hearing still hanging like a cloud over last night's proceedings, the City Council denied the permit. 

"It is commonplace for zoning matters to become heated and for sometimes tempers to flare," said Stanley. "If the city council of Fredericksburg can't handle that, then they have bigger problems."

In addition to continuing on with their lawsuit, Stanley also suggested that last night's denial may have opened up the city to more legal liability.

"The city's original denial of Calvary's special use permit was unlawful," said Stanley. "That vote doesn't change the fact that the city's denial was unlawful, in fact, I think that the City Council has potentially committed another unlawful denial."

"We will be looking at all of our legal options and continuing to litigate the case," said Stanley.


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