HomeMy WebLinkAbout20180574 Bethesda Church Narrative 2018 —.__ . � � ._ ..�. �=�;' �
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T0: City Zoning Officer
FROM: Bethesda �pisco�al Church; The Very Rev�erend Marshall;. V�ng, Interim Rector;
Darren Miller, Senior Warden; and Gordan Bayd, Building Comtnittee Chair
�ATE: August 20, 2D18
SUBJECT: Bethesda Parish House/Cammunity Cer�ter Site Plan #75.0�0
Bethesda Episcopal Chureh {Bethescia), a parish sinee 1830 in the Episcopal Diocese of
Aibany witll Internal Revenue Code secti4� 5�1(c){3) status, is developing a new Bethesda
Parish Hause/Community Center next to the church 6uilding on Washington Street.
Bethesda intends to use this new building in keeping with both God's wil! as rev�aled in
scripture and Bethesda's tradition af service. Not only will members of Bethesda's
ca�gregation use it for worship, religious education, prayer meetings and the like, but
Bethesda �lans tc� assist i�tdividuals in need in our community in furtherance of Bethesda's
reIigious mission. The peaple we will help require supportive housing and she�ter, room
far healing and recuperation, and/�r recovery from a�eahol or substance use disorders.
Ta this end, Bethesda has entered into Letters af Intent with the belaw-named five
communiry-service organizations that serv� people in Sarato�;a Springs and the
surroundin�area. We ar� collaborating with each of these or�anizations towards
providing housing, meals, and counseling sei-vices in Bethesda Parish Hause/Community
Center.
1. Backstz-etch Emplavee Service Team fBEST). BEST is devated to meeting the health
and social welf�re needs of the backstretch w�rkers at Saratoga Race Course by
�roviding counseling and otlier assistance. BEST is licensed by New Yorl{State
�Jffice of Alcahol and Substance Abuse Servic�es [OASAS) to provide such counseling,
including sponsoring Alcoholics Anony�nous Suppart Graups.
Z. Transitional Servic;es AssoCiation �TSAI. TSA provides care cQord�nation and
hausing support services to individuals struggling with n7ental healti� and substat�ce
use disarders, as well as chronic medical condltions.
3. Wellsprin�. Wellspring is the domestic vialence and sexual assault services
resource �or�aratoga Counry resider�ts, including identifying and securing
supportive housin�far victims.
4. Veterans & �atnmunity Housing Co�lition (VCHCI. VCIiG pravides hausing and
support services to all hotn�less military veterans and their families, and advocates
on k�ehalf of aIl military veterans and thair families to provide housing apportunities
fnr law income householc�s.
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S. Cn Our Name Inftiative. In Dur Name Initiative is a companent af the Skidmore
Calleg� Project on RestQrative Justice and seeks to increase aware�ess of public
palicy and ather issues. An on-site voluntary cafe/refreshment operation will he
conducted by In Our Narr�e Initiatirre, called "Food for Thoug�t," where patrans nr�ay
pay according to their ab�lity, or not at afl. This feature will bring toge�her both
housing guests,volunteers from the parish, Skidmore Coll�ge and participation fram
the cammunity, adding to the diverse, holistic and suppartive atmQsph�re.
Bethesda was granted site-plan approval by the City af Saratoga Springs Planning Board on
S�pCerr�bec 9, Z015, for a four-story addition to the church, pianned, at the time, to consisr
of office, retail, gro�p e�tertainment, educational facilities and day Care center. Based on
the plans and the Board's review and evaluation, a SEQRA Negative Declaratian af
environmental significance was issued.
Since Bethesda's original application for site-plan approval, cantinued cor�sid�ration has
been given by Bethesda tr�the program of the addition, in furtherance af Bethesda's
religious mission. While uses such as offices, retail, entertainment and day care are
d�sirable functians, and if undertal�en by certain non-pro�t, charitable organizations would
not 6e incompatible with Bethesda's missian, the parish leadership has given deeper
cansideratian to o�zr mission to fulfill Biblical directfves to h�lp house, feed and support the
poor and needy. T4iis consideration also cantinues a tradition of more than a century,
during which Bethesda has eontinually aided thase in negd in Saratoga Springs.
This memorandum is respectfully submi�t�d to describe Bethesda's prograrn plans for its
new facility, to sho�ry how these plans fulfill our mission�o live the Gospels and carry out
God's will, and to sumtnarize the legal and constitutianal protections Bethesda enjoys as a
religious ins�itution, located as we are in the T-6 zone of Saratoga Springs.
Qverall_Use P_�an
WiChaut changing any envirnnmental impact or e�cterior feature approved under Site P1an
review, S�thesda intends to build interior space where guests n:eeding supportive sh�lter
or housing can be �ccamzraodated,while participating, if they choose, in alcoho�ism and
substance use disorder recovery activities and other healing prograrr�s canducted an the
premises. This approach may be considered a "h�using first"' model,whereb�individuals
in need ean be safely sheltered withaut having to make a comrnitment to atiher programs as
a prerequisite for Y�ousing.
Bethesda's parish leadership has become inereasingly focused on the need in 5aratoga
Springs and Saratoga County for supportive shelter and accamodati+ons for individuals
engaged in alcahol and substance use disarder re�covery programs, including workers from
the backstretch at Sarataga Race Course, military veterans,victims of domestic violenc@,
and peQple with disabilities. In furtherance of this missian, and following detailed
discussions, examit�ation and adjust�nent of interiar floor plans, Bethesda has entered into
�,etters of lntent wit�the five partners listed herein for supportive shelter and hausing
needs for the indiv�duals and families whom they serve. The meeting roams and dining
hall on the first floor wQuld be made available on a scheduled basis for arty af the partner
arganizations, when not required for paz'ish purposes.
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The plan now coming into foeus v�rould also allaw for use of�substantial part of the
building during cold-ureather emergency conditions when shelter is required for Everyane
by Ex�cutive Order of the Governor.
Guest-R�am Cnnfigurations
Accomodations in the faciii�y witl be designed for both individuals and families referred by
aur partners.
r Far individuals referred by BE5T, there will be shared bedraam suites, shareci
bathroams and an eat-in kitchen on the fourth f�oor. ln addition, a multi--bed suite
wili be included for recuperation of indi�viduals who may have been injur�d in their
wot'k [such as on the Saratoga Race Course) but are n.at ready to return to work.
These suites will be devoted, in season, ta men and women served by SEST.
+ Two three-bedroom apartments will be included, devated tQ families who t�ave
suffered domestic violence and laeen referred by Wellspring.
• One-bedraom and studio units will be available to individuals referred by'�'SA and
hy Veterans &Communiry Housing Coalition, including female milit�ry vet�erans
with children wha are unabie�a access Saratoga Cot�nty's female veterans' hausing.
• Qn the first�1aar', common rooms and ather spaces will be available for scheduled
group meetings, SLIC�"1�S AIC��I.OIICS AI14ri�7'T17q115 [AA], Narcatics Ananymous (NA]
and others, and far individual ar family caunseling, as referenced above. Otherwise,
offices, musxc�raining and the m�eting rooms will be devoted ta Bethesda parish
use, as original�y envisioned.
• Securiry of access to the upper floors will be assured by a digital security system
already designed into B�thesda"s plans. The safety and security of all who reside in
and enter this bui�ding are paramount to Bethesda. Therefore, security measures
and apprapi-iate aversig�t will be tailored to address this irnportant abjective.
� A full-tixne resident rnanager will have a two-bedroom apartment on site.
Gues�Access
Arrangements for�uests will be made in partnership with the above-rnentioned partner
organizatians. Far example, Bethesda�+vould welcame homeless military veterans and race
track backstretch workers requiring supportive shelter,as well as provide safe hausing for
domestic vialence��ictims and people with disaiailities including alcohnl or substance
recovery and rnental illness. Bethesda's mission is to senre as many of our partners' clients
as possible in spaee that is flexibly designed to accommadate a variety of t�eeds in a holistic
and safe manner. Ail the organizations have voic�d support for the different backgraunc�s
of those we envision serving, feeling that the diversity itself is an enhancement af the likely
eFfecttveness of pragrarns conducted on the pre�nises.
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Parish Operation�
The new Parish Ho�se/Corr�munity Ceriter wiil, af course, sei-v�e as Bethesda's �arish House,
too. For mare than 14fl years, Bethesda's parish hause�vas at 41 Washington Street. It
was soid in 2Q14 because it no lan�er suited the n�eds af the parish, and renovation casts
to reconfigure the �pace to a11ow fc�r the type of missian-orien�ed uses the parish
envisioned were prahibitive. The new�uilding wili accommoc�ate these needs. Critical to
the parish operatians,the New Parish House/Community Center will hause Bethesda's
offices, church sch�aol, music training,Iibrary,wvrship and meeting space, dining hall at�d
kitchen on the first floor. G�ests of�he upper fIQors will be able to schedule use af the
dining hali and kitchen and other spaces when needed and apprapria�e.
Own�rship and Q�era�ion--Mercy House of Sarato�a. Inc.
BethEsda's property, like aIl praperty of the Episcopal Church, is controIled by diocesan
authority, in this case the Episeo�al Diacese of Albany. Purchases, sales, and long-term
leases are approved by the Diocesan Standing Cammittee pur5uant to Canon Law and the
New York State Reiigious Corparations Law.
�peration of the guest accommodatians will be r�anaged by Mercy House of Saratoga, lnc.
[iVlercy House), a separate, non-denominational 501[c)[3) not-far-prafit corporatian
presently under fordmation. Mercy House wiil have an vperating agreerr�ent with Bethesda
ar�d long-term agreements with our designat�d �ousing partners listeci above.
Mercy House woulc�be affiliated vuith,but separate from, Bethesda. Mercy House's board
of directors wauld �e nominated by Bethesda's Vestty, and most likely would include
members of the cammunity and/or housing partner organizatians. Bethesda's Vestry is the
church's baard of directors and already has a full panoply of respansibilities. Mercy
House's separate b�ard wauld be dedieated to the operations of the residential areas of the
building. This arrangement wauld allow for rnanagement accountability and fiscal control
of the operation se�arately fram the main parish,so that funds attendant to the
tnanagement of this mission are dedicated to that purpose. Significantly,the mission of
Mercy Hause af Sar°ataga, Inc.would be ta support and help implement Sethesda's religious
mission to care for the poor, homeless, and needy in our comrnunity, and to da so in a nan-
denominatianal an�non-discriminatory manner.
A fuIl-time on-site rr�anager will be emplayed by Mercy House, have an apar�ment in the
facility,and will see that all guests are properly lacated and served. Outside groups, as well
as peer-suppart gr�ups (e.g.,AA/NA),will be able to use apprapriate raoms for prograrns
and tneetings.
�n Furtherance of Religious Faifh and Tradition
Bethesda Episcopal Church's commitment to t�is mission as ot��lined above is in keeping
with the traditiona� Judeo-Christian faith, and with many decades of Bethesda living its
faith actively in Saratoga Springs.
For example, Beth�sda`s continuous com�rz�ztment to meeting human needs in 5aratoga
Springs is marked by the founding in Z870 of the Home of the Good Shepherd, a rnission
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ana�ogous to our p�esent establishment c�f Mercy �ouse in 2018. Comrrtitting to a mission
to provide shelter artd housing ta elderly women, Bethesc�a Faithfully sustained the Horne
thraugh decades o�� Greenfield Avenue befare it began its successful expansion program in
the Iast two decades. Today, the Horne[s] of the Good Sh�pherd,wh�se Board is appointed
6y Bethesda's Vest�y, manages housing for more than 30Q etderly m�n and women
throughout Saratoga County i�� its four adult homes and one memory care facility.
Nearly a centtiry a�o during the influenza epidemic aF 1�1$, Bethesda's Rector at the time,
R�v. Irving Granville Rouillard,wrote a letter to the Editor of Th�Saratogian: "I ain
intensely intereste�in the suggestion made through the column af The 5arato,gian, tk�at
Be��esda parish house be usEd as a sick relief statian and the l�itchen for�naking sou�s,
broths and delicacies for the acutely ill.A committee stands ready to initiate it, if doctors of
the city recommen�� that it be done and urge its necessity." 5aratoga Chapter of tl�e
Arnerican Red Cross, Re� Cross rnembers and valunteers, vvere given access ta a large
Sunday SChool roorn two afternaons a week where garments far women and children were
made.
During the economic hard times of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Bethesda played a
leadership role in �ring comfort and aid to individuaIs and families in desperate need.
AdditiQnally, three rooms in �ethesda parish hause were furnished with beds t�
accammadate transients, and Betl�esda's kitchen facili�ies were used ta prepare and serve a
hot lunch to needy children.
Tn more recent tim�s Bet�esda has hosted a one evening city wide forum on the prevalence
an� prablems related to Drugs and Drug Addiction in our comrnunity. Bethesda's facus on
the needs of those in recovery prograrris cantinues and extends more than 7S years of
providing suppar-t�o Alcohvlics Ananymous (A.F11) at our former Paris� HQuse at 41
Was�ington Street. Each week over�hase decades, dozens of ineetings were held where
peer support provid�d people with a supportive �athway to recovery. Since Bethesda sald
that building, participants in AA have had to finc� nncetings in different locations and have
expressed�he strong desire to return to Bethesda, a desire shared by Bethesda`s
congregation, clergy and leadership. Other cohorts, inciuding backstreteh workers,TSA,
doznestzc violence victims, and military veterans needing housing include individuals in
recovery, so Bethesda's ability and experience hasting these prograrr►s is seen as a welcome
resource.
Since formally initiating the plan for a new Parish Hause/Community Center in 2015,
Bethesda's congregation has prayed every week for an inereased apportunity to serve the
community. We pray that God's "presence and power wiil make this parish church a home
of spiritual refreshanent anci healing," such as is now proposeci to help and house the paar
and those suffering from addiction. This prayer has unified our congregation. lt has been
printed in every w�ekly pragram for more than three years and prayed aloud by the entire
congregatian at�oth the 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sunday services.
The vvord �rBethesda" means "hause of inercy." �ethesda was so-named by Rockwell
Putnarn [son of Gideon Putnam) and the founders, inspired by the presence of Sarataga's
he�ling waters and a Gospel story, depicted in the principal stained-glass window above
the altar at Bethesc�a. Both the windaw and the Gospet of S�John, Chapter 5: 1-1b, tell the
story that gave rise to Bethesda's narne and missian. lnstalled in the 1890s,the windaw
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depicts Jesus hea�ing at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalern. He is pictured along with images
af a crippled man and a woman holding a y�ung child [passibly a reference to Katrina
Trask,whose Child�en died tragically, and whose benefieence supparted the window'�
design and installa�Lian�. This window has inspired generations of B�thesda worshippers ta
the mirtistries of�Ealing and service and does so today.
The Holy Bibie is replete with pas�ages directin�us to serve the poor. Bethesda's
cammitment is a response to Biblical and theological directives and admonitions.
Scripture tells us we are to he�p the poor, the homeless, and the needy ta fulfil� God's will.
Here are but a few�xample�s:
• "Suppose a Urother ar a sister is withaut clathes and daily food, and if one of you
says to therri, 'Go in peace; keep war�n and well fed,' but daes notihing about their
physical needs,what good is it? In the sarne way,fa�th by itself, if it is nat
accort�panied by action, is dead." (James 2:1 S-1�.
• "V1lhoever i� kind to the needy honors God" (Pr�overbs 14.•31).
• "Then Che �ing wi11 say to thdse at his right hand, `Come,you that are hless�d by my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of�he world; for 1
was hungry and you gave me foad, l was thirsty and you gave me som�thing to
drinl{, I was a stranger a��d you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me
clot��'rng, [ �srvas sick and you took care af ine, 1 was in prison and yau�isited mc."'
(Matthew 25:3�-36),
• "�ehold,this is the guilt of your siste�r Sodom: she and her daughters had pride,
surfeit of food and prosperaus ease, hut did not aid the poor and needy." (EaekieJ
Z 6:49).
• "If�nyone has the world`s gaads and sees his hrother in need,yet close� his heart
against him, how does God's love abide in him?" (1 John 3:1�.
• "'Do nat negiect to sh�w hospitality ta strangers, for by doin�that same have
ent�rtained angels w�thout knowing it." [Hebr-e�nrs 13:Z).
C1-��rch lead�rs in t�e past�ave instructed Christ"rans on t�eir responsibility to c�re for the
poor. For instance, Saint Tnnrnas Aquinas (1.3th C.], quating Saint Arnbrose [4th C.} said: "It
is the hungry man`s bread that you detain; the naked man`s +claak Chat you store away; the
poar man's ransam and freedam that is in the mnney�vhich ynu bury in the ground... It is
no less a crime to refu5e to help the �eedy when you are able and pros�erous than it is to
take away someone eise's praperty"
Bethesda also draws inspiration from more recent church leacters. Bishop Michaei Curry,
Pr�siding Bishop ol�the Episcopal Church, quoting Jesus and commenting, said: "'My house
shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.' (1'saiah 56:7, Mark 1.1:T 7). When jesus
spoke these wards, ne was quoting the prophet Isaiah and a portion of Scripture which
dreams for the day when those who have lang been excluded will be included and when
thase v+aho have long bee� cast ouC will be brnught in. When Jesus spoke thase warc�s, he
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had just stunned everyane at the templ�by overturning the tables of the money changers.
Jesus didn't mince those words. He really meant them. He let them ring out."
Bishop Curry, again quotir�g Jesus, said: "'just as you did it ta one of the least of these who
are members of my family,you did it ta rne.' (Matthew 25:gD). In the cry of human �eed, in
the arhe of the hun�aan heart, in the faces of thase dowr�cast, and ir�the lives of those out�ast
�y any human decree or agency--there, in the brather, there in the sister,we hehold t�e
face and hear the v�ice of Jesus."
Bishop Curry, quoting German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed k�y the Nazis for
plottir�g against Hit:ler: "'Bonhoeffer believed Jesus genuinely wants us to live the teachings
of the Sermon on the Maunt, tQ live the gospel. For his beliefs Bonhoeffer paid the ultimate
price; he was exec�ated by the Na�is. Not long befare he died he wrote, 'The Church is the
Church flnly when %�exists for others."'
Bishop Curry, quoting Old Testament schatar Walter Brueggemann: "The central vision af
world history in th� Bible is that all af crearion is one, every creature in commut�iLy with
every�other, living in harmony and security taward the jay ar�d v+rell-being of evety oth�r
creature."
I,ega! Protection
Bethesda Episcopal Church is in the heart of downtown 5aratoga Springs, in rhe city`s T-6
urban zone. This z�ne allows far several types of businesses and organizatians to be
permitted with Site Plan Approval, including"Religious Institutions." As a religious
institution whase�resence nn Washington Street predates the chartering of the city af
Saratoga Springs, let alone of the Zaning Ordinance, Bethesda respectfully asserts its right
to erigage in jts religious practices, including providing shelter to those in need,without
undue interfer�nce ar canstrainC fronr� municipal authority.
Th� right ta practice one's religious faith is protected by the United States Constitution,
First Amendment, and the New York 5tate Constit�tion,Article I, Section 3. Furtherrnore,
the land use provisions of th+e Religious Lar�d Use ancl Institut�or�alized P�rsons Act af 2flA0
(R�.UIPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 20(}Occ, et seq., protects individuals,houses of worship, �nd other
religious institutiatis f`rom discriminatian ir� zoning and landrnarking laws.
Since its enactmen��:, the majority of courts have been sympathetic toward the RLUIPA in
cases involving temporary shelter and other farms of hausing for the homeless afforded by
religious institutioiis. In these courts' opinions, RLUIPA has emerged as a pc�werful taol for
establishing religio�s use to create such housing in prvperty that could otherwise nat be
used for such purpc�ses. Far instance, in 2002,the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit,whose jurisdaction encompasses New York State, upheld an injunction prohibiting
the City of New Yflrk frozn d�sp+ersing homeles5 persons that a church had allawe�l to sleep
on the church`s outdoor pro�erty, in part based on RLUIPA. Fift'h Ave. Presbyterian Church
v. C'ity of New York, 293 F.3d 570 (2d Cir. 2002�.The Second Circuit accepted the church°s
position that this assistance for the homeless was "an integral part of its religiaus mission"
and that the church was "commandec� by scripture to care for the least, the last, and the
lanel}r of this worlc�, and, in ministering to the homeless." fd. at 574-575.
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In a rna�'e recent decision by the Appeilate Division of the Supreme Court for the Third
Department of New York,the Court reiterated the longstanding rule in New Yorlc that
religious institutians are affarded special treatment and enjoy canstitutionally protect�d
status with respect to residential zoning ordinances. Sullivan v. Board ofZoningAppeals of
City ofAIbany, 144 A.D.3d 1480 (3d Dep't 2Q1b), leave ta appeal denied, 29 N.Y.3d 9Q1
(2017). In this case, the App�llate Division revers�d the denial of tl�e proposed use of
parsonage on church praperty, which was located in a single-family residential district, by
non-profit corpora�ion to hause 14 homeless individuals, finding that the church met the
r�efinition of"hous� of worship," as a use permitted in city's zoning code, and thus no
additinnal �c�ning exemptions ar permissions were necessary far church and non-profit
corporatian ta begin using parsanage for proposed use. The proposed use was consistent
with missian and actions of a house af worship or religious ceremonies, since religious uses
and activities included not only prayer and sacrifice, but also serviCes to the homeless and
concepts of charity. Id.
The Federal and State Constitutions and RLUIPA protect the rights of religious institutions
like Bethesda to supply housing far the homeless as a part af the exercise af aur religious
beliefs. These laws benefit bath churcYzes, which can freely exercise their rr�inistry of car�,
as well as the poor, needy, and tl�e hameless wk�o receive lodging and ather essential
services at locations that are convenient. Sethesda, as a religious nat-for-prafit
organization, has tl�e desire and commitment to provide shelter and supporti�re hausing to
those in need in Sa:�ataga 5prings and surrounding areas at a time when gnvernments and
ather agencies are challenged Co find the resaurces ta do sa. Cnnsequently,the community
as v►rell benefits from such charitable housing activities.
C�nnclusion
B�thesda is �ager t�o affer this integra�ed, innovative and needed p�an ta our community.
By providin�suppartive shelter and supportive hflusing for a diverse cohort af individuals
in need, Bethesda is living the prir�rities and directives tif our faith that have beer� revealed
in scripture and handed dawn ta us over trtillennia. We are sharing our wealth with those
in need, such as Ra�e Course �ackstretch workers, military veterans who have sacrificed to
protect nur cauntr�r,victims o�damestic�riolence, ar�d ir�dividuals with tiis��itities. We are
including thern in �ur lives. We are laaking into the faces of others, especialty those
"autcast by any human decree or agency," such as our community's hameless and addicted,
and finding Jesus. `�lVe are the Church "existing for others" and trying to make all of creation
ane by healin�the �ivisions in our society and helping those in need. We undertake this
effort to help meet the unmet needs af the community that chronically exist, despite the
best efforts of volui�tary non-profit agencies and society.
Therefore,we respectfully present our plan as a rightful znission for a religious institt�tion
under the City of Sttratoga Springs Zoning Ordinance, the federai Religious �.and Use and
lnstitutionalized Persons Act, and the Constitutinns oF New York State and the United
States.
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