A denial from the Clay County Commissioners of the Church of Liberty’s request to rezone their property at 14518 Old Quarry Rd. to residential use has Pastor Doug Perry extremely upset about the situation. The Clay County Commissioners voted 3-0 on Monday, Feb. 28 to uphold a recommendation made by the Clay County Planning and Zoning Board not to allow the Church of Liberty to rezone the nearly 70-acre property.
“We’re going to proceed with our available options, some of which include building a church, a hotel and a college on that property. We have said all along that we are a training facility and a retreat center and we’re moving in that direction with architects and engineers. And, we’re already zoned for those without any public hearing or need to request permission,” explained Perry.
The battle over the piece of land referred to by locals as “the caves” began when Perry and his group began making plans for an eco-friendly, intentional community. Before long several neighbors who border the property caught wind of Perry’s plans and were in opposition, eventually hiring legal representation.
“I regret that the neighbors felt it necessary to waste so much money on a lawyer, but I really appreciate it since I have said all along that this is a civil rights issue that is going to end up in Federal court and we can’t do that until we’ve been denied,” Perry continued. “So in many ways, the lawyer they hired to obfuscate and twist things just helped it go along faster. Far better for people to say they are Christians to meet, talk, work out issues and get along without lawyers. Instead, we’ve been faced with slander, lies, misunderstandings, gossip and more. From folks that say Jesus Chris is their Lord. It would have been better to get to know us and find that their concerns are misplaced.”
Concerns or not, Perry and the members of the Church of Liberty have now found their own legal council. After attempting to reach a plan with the zoning staff that was agreeable, and after Perry stated he and his group made concessions as to where they would build their houses initially, Perry said the commission still wasn’t satisfied. “We tried to address every concern and none of it was good enough. And we still stand ready to negotiate out the design of facilities that are safe, are green, are attractive and won’t have any negative impact on neighbors, in fact, this week we will be planting hundreds of new trees around the front of the property,” Perry added.
To read more, see the print edition or e-edition of the Friday, March 18, Standard.