The suit, filed Monday, accuses the city and its officials of launching a harassment campaign against Dad's Place, a church in Bryan, for keeping its doors open 24/7 for the homeless.

The suit, filed Monday, accuses the city and its officials of launching a harassment campaign against Dad’s Place, a church in Bryan, for keeping its doors open 24/7 for the homeless.

An Ohio pastor who was charged with zoning violations for housing people experiencing homelessness has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Bryan and its officials.

Earlier this year, Pastor Chris Avell decided to keep the doors of his church, Dad’s Place, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to reach out to the city’s most “vulnerable.” Bryan is a small city of about 8,600 people, 65 miles west of Toledo.

In December, Avell was hit with 18 zoning violations by the city, which claimed he had violated a city ordinance that says residents can’t stay on the first floor of that property. Further, the local fire chief found a slew of fire code violations at the church.

Avell pleaded not guilty to the charges at his Jan. 11 arraignment, according to online court records.

Now he’s suing the city, claiming discrimination on the basis of religion and claiming city officials have launched a harassment campaign against the church.

  • @jettrscgaEnglish
    14•10 months ago

    They claim they saw more calls. I’m gonna call bullshit.

    police department saw a spike in calls for service in May 2023

    The city became aware that Dad’s Place was housing people in November

    Even giving them the benefit of the doubt, by their own admission it took their ace detectives 6 months of responding to calls before realizing what was happening there?