Churches Aiding the Homeless Have Run Afoul of Zoning Laws

A handful of Ventura churches have taken an unusual approach to aiding homeless families by allowing them to stay for months at a time in travel-trailers temporarily set up on church grounds.

In doing so, however, the churches have had to dodge and, in some cases, violate city zoning laws that prohibit people from living in campers, recreational vehicles or other structures not designed for permanent residency.

Although church leaders acknowledge that they are uneasy about circumventing Ventura’s codes, they say the help they provide far outweighs any of the risks they might be facing.

“Our issue is redemption and trying to redeem people from a homeless style of living,” said the Rev. Dan Stevens, pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, which has allowed families to live in trailers on its property the last four years.

“Maybe we’re going about it in somewhat the wrong way,” he said. “But . . . we feel there is a problem in the city that needs to be addressed.”

Everett Millais, city director of community development, said he sympathizes with the efforts of the churches, but cannot permit them to violate city zoning ordinances.

He said he did not learn until this week that Eastminster Presbyterian, a 200-member church on Telephone Road in east Ventura, was illegally housing a family in a travel-trailer.

“I haven’t given it to our code enforcement people, but I will,” Millais said Tuesday. “We’ll have to put them on notice that they can’t continue to do this.”

For Keith and Mary Stringer and the five-year-old granddaughter who sometimes shares their 27-foot trailer,eviction from the church grounds would mean hardship.

“We could never afford to stay in Ventura if we weren’t here,” said Mary Stringer, who, before setting up camp in the church lot two years ago, had for several years lived with her husband in a van near the beach.

The white metallic trailer, which they own, is the kind ordinarily towed behind a car or pick-up truck. It is equipped with a kitchen, a bathroom and sleeping quarters, and is similar to the travel-trailers which two other Ventura churches have made available for homeless families. The couple had hoped to sell their trailer and find a home sooner, but their part-time jobs brought in only enough for subsistence. However, Stringer recently got a full-time job as a maintenance man.

The church’s donation of its space has proved a godsend, she said. “If it wasn’t for the church, I don’t know where we’d be.”

Need to Enforce Laws

Millais, however, said that to preserve “the character and quality of life” in Ventura, it is necessary to enforce such laws.

“Quite frankly, we’re not sure it’s desirable, as a matter of policy, that someone can move an RV onto a lot and live in it permanently,” he said. “We don’t want to start a precedent.”

Even churches that have tried to go through proper channels to obtain city permits for the trailers have found that they must sidestep Ventura’s zoning laws.

Church of the Foothills, for instance, allowed a family of four to live illegally on church property for three months in early 1987. When neighbors in the affluent hillside neighborhood complained, the church tried to obtain permission for the travel-trailer, which it owns, last fall.

Shortly before the matter was to come before the Planning Commission, Millais contacted leaders of the church and told them that his staff was going to recommend that the request be denied.

Temporary Permit

As a compromise, Millais agreed to give the church a temporary permit that would allow a family to stay in a trailer on the grounds for six months, provided that utility lines were connected to the trailer in accordance with city codes.

Because of that permit, which was granted at the beginning of February, Church of the Foothills was able to allow a family to stay last month.

First Baptist Church of Ventura, which also was granted a permit, is installing sewer and utility lines for a trailer.

“In our minds, this is a temporary, interim use,” Millais said. “We would not support it in its present form on a permanent basis--no matter how laudable the goals.”

He said Eastminster Presbyterian will have the opportunity to apply for a temporary permit, allowing the Springers to stay for another six months.

Valuable Tool

Advocates say the trailers are a valuable tool in their efforts to help Ventura County’s estimated 2,000 chronically homeless people.

“Not only does it make a difference for the homeless families, but it allows people to make an impact,” said Pat Driskell, executive director of Project Understanding, a private nonprofit agency in Ventura that has referred families to the churches. “It’s easy to say, ‘There’s nothing I can do.’ This empowers people to see that they can make a difference.”

Using trailers is just one of several methods being employed by the Ventura County Religious Coalition for the Homeless, a 2-year-old alliance of two dozen churches and a temple.

Some religious leaders have collected donations to help the homeless pay rent. Others have leased homes, owned by congregation members, at reduced prices. For three months this winter, eight churches took turns housing about three or four families a night.

For some of the churches, though, offering a trailer just seemed to be the simplest, most cost-effective way of giving a family a place to stay.

Families Counseled

It also allowed church leaders to work closely with the families, providing them with counseling and financial training. Some churches even required the families to sign covenants vowing that they would actively seek employment and work toward achieving certain personal goals.

However, not all of the parishioners were enthusiastic at first.

“There was an underlying feeling of, ‘Sure, we’ll help the homeless, but we don’t want to have to look at it,’ ” said Curt Miner, associate pastor of Church of the Foothills.

But Stevens, whose church was the first to allow a family to stay in a trailer, said that, in time, most church members came to endorse the arrangement.

“As a church, it’s easy to become encased behind the walls of your own building, to become your own little country club, so to speak,” he said. “This has really opened us up to say, ‘What do we exist for?’ Those people need what we have.”

Some Neighbors Opposed

Not all neighbors, however, have felt that generous. Near the Foothills church, several neighbors say they oppose the trailer and will fight attempts to keep it there permanently.

“I wouldn’t mind if they built a house down there or something,” said one nearby resident, who asked not to be identified. “But it’s just the idea of them living in that trailer.”

“Other churches have done it, but this was the first one in an affluent neighborhood,” said another. “I really don’t think it’s appropriate for a trailer to be in this neighborhood.”

For the next six months, at least, that is where the trailer will stay. During that time, the city will begin a series of public hearings as part of a general restructuring of Ventura’s zoning ordinances, Millais said. It is possible that references to trailers in the city codes could be amended in the process, he said.

“From the professional city staff end, we’re not anxious to recommend to the council that someone be allowed to pull up a travel trailer anywhere in the city and live in it permanently,” Millais said.

“The council might want to make a policy exception,” he said. “But, frankly, we have some hesitancy.”