Resident sues Newport over church parking

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- A city ordinance that singles out parking meters

adjacent to churches violates the separation of church and state, a

lawsuit alleges.

Newport Beach resident John Nelson on Friday filed a lawsuit in the

United States Court’s Central District arguing that the city’s policy of

not enforcing parking meters next to churches between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Sunday is unconstitutional.

“My contention is that it’s a violation of the Establishment Clause,”

Nelson said. “It affects the fabric of our democratic system, what our

country is founded on. We’re founded on keeping state out of religious

activities to guarantee freedom of worship.”

Nelson started by meeting with City Atty. Bob Burnham and City Manager

Homer Bludau to request that the city stop the practice. But in that

meeting, the city stood firm by its policy:

“We agreed to disagree,” Burnham said. “It was a very cordial meeting.

We expressed our position that there were legitimate reasons for this

resolution.”

An ordinance passed in the 1970s provides special parking-meter

enforcement times near four houses of worship, city traffic engineer Rich

Edmonston said.

Because the vast majority of the city’s parking meters are on Balboa

Peninsula, the only churches affected are Christ Church by the Sea, 1400

W. Balboa Blvd.; Christian Science Church and Reading Room at 3303 Via

Lido; St. James Episcopal Church of Newport Beach, 3209 Via Lido; and Our

Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, 1441 W. Balboa Blvd.

Except in these areas, city parking meters are enforced from 8 a.m. to

6 p.m. Adjacent to these four churches, however, meters are only in

effect from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Burnham pointed out that one of the reasons for the ordinance is that

many homes in these areas don’t have ample parking. Therefore, he said,

the ordinance provides relief to homeowners whose streets would otherwise

be overrun with churchgoers’ cars. But for Nelson, that’s not a valid

reason to favor the churches.

“If they were applying it universally, to homes near restaurants, that

would be one thing,” Nelson said. “But it just specifies churches.”

Nelson, who said he has never taken up any causes like this in the

past, said he feels compelled to defend the Constitution. Ultimately, it

will be the courts that decide the constitutionality of the city

ordinance.

“It’s going to be pretty straightforward: Let the courts decide,”

Burnham said. “We have agreed to make this litigation as painless as

possible.”

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .