The Rev. Dan Ferrell, administrator of the school, said he feels “blindsided” by the board’s decision, which he said violates equal protection under Ohio law.
“We were very hurt and disappointed,” he said. “A lot of the students were crying (the morning after), very upset. My job was to put on my happy face and say ‘Hey, God’s on the throne. It’s not over. It’s OK. Don’t worry about it.”
What Ferrell said he is concerned about it is what he believes to be a double standard.
“This zoning board, they granted unanimously that the (Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati) could have a religious school and we unanimously were turned down,” he said. “A church has a right to have a Christian school.”
But zoning officials said the matter boils down not to favoring one group over another, but to the church not taking the proper steps to apply for a conditional use before it opened a school.
Prior to Wednesday evening’s unanimous vote to deny the conditional use, board members voiced their displeasure with the situation.
“I’ve got a problem with the fact they’ve been doing it without asking for permission,” said board alternate Chris Cavens in regard to the church’s initial request. “That’s my biggest thing. I don’t know why people, if they know what they’re going to do, why don’t they just ask for permission? It’s like they’re hiding something.”
Ferrell said the church has been involved in the community and advertised via newspaper, television, radio and yard signs. It never once has tried to “fly under the radar,” he said.
“I guess what we thought is that we have a constitutional right to have a school,” Ferrell said. “We weren’t asking for a new building. We’re not asking for a new access (road). The building that we’re at, the school can’t grow very big. The biggest we could grow is 70 to 75 (total students) and they were making like ‘Well, they’ll just build a new building.’ Really? Where do you get the money to do that?”
Ferrell said concerns about the amount of traffic are unfounded because only about 15 to 20 vehicles pull in and out of Summerhill Drive each day to drop off students.
Board member Dick Lenz said when he was not yet a member of the board last year, it denied an access road for the Islamic Center because of the traffic it would create on Lawrence Road.
“Here we are again talking about traffic problems on Lawrence Road,” Lenz said.
While he took issue with the church for doing first and asking later when it came to establishing the school, he also suggested an alternate to denying the conditional use: allowing the school to operate at 36 students and no more.
That idea failed to gain traction.
Board member Cliff Hackney said he was on the zoning board when Morning Star Baptist Church first opened in 2001 and that he recalled testimony that traffic for the church would be limited to Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, with no worrying about traffic every day of the week.
“What we’re dealing with today is traffic every day of the week,” Hackney said.
Board member Ronald Moeller said he was worried about the school’s continued growth and what that might mean for the community.
“The amount of traffic to support a school without school buses is pretty tremendous because it’s almost (a ratio of) 1 to 1 or 1.5 to 1,” Moeller said. “And it’s not only once a day, it’s twice a day.”
Board member Larry Whited also voiced concerns about traffic volume increasing and safety becoming an issue.
“Those streets, they’re so narrow when you get back in there, I could never approve … I just don’t see myself approving anything that would create more traffic on those streets,” Whited said. “It’s just not built for it.”
Cavens said it would be far easier for the church and its school to relocate to another area than the neighboring community affected by the traffic to do so.
While the township prepares the necessary paperwork to carry out the zoning board’s vote, Morning Star Baptist Church is gearing up to counter that action.
“We’re not done with this, obviously,” Ferrell said. “They may think we are, but we’re not. We think it’s discrimination.”
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