City of Brookings will pay $400,000 to settle church’s lawsuit related to free meal program

By JUSTIN HIGGINBOTTOM/Jefferson Public Radio

St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church sued the city of Brookings in 2022, challenging a city ordinance that limited their free meals program. That law, passed amid concerns about a growing homeless population, required a permit to offer free meals in residential areas as well as restricting the service to two days per week.

St. Timothy’s began offering free meals in 2009. That service expanded during the pandemic when the church also received a temporary permit allowing campers to use its parking lot. In 2021, a petition by neighbor’s of the church asked the city to intervene to stop the influx of homeless residents.

Father Bernie Lindley of St. Timothy’s said he had tried to discuss the issue with city officials before filing the lawsuit. The complaint claimed the city ordinance violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act which prohibits land-use regulations from burdening religious exercises. The church argued that serving disadvantaged communities was part of their member’s faith. A federal judge sided with St. Timothy’s in March.

“It certainly didn’t have to come to this, but we had to stand up for our religious freedoms,” said Lindley.

At Monday’s city council meeting, council member Clayton Malmberg suggested that concerns over St. Timothy’s impact in their neighborhood haven’t gone away.

“How unfortunate that things have gone this far,” said Malmberg. “It all kind of stemmed from not being a good neighbor, in my opinion, and not working with your community to find a path forward and address the needs while minimizing the impacts.”

The city will pay $375,000 to Stoel Rives, a Portland law firm, and $43,000 to the Oregon Justice Resource Center as part of the settlement.

“I think the winners in this lawsuit, obviously, [is] this law firm that’s going to collect these attorney fees,” said council member Andy Martin. “The losers are the people in this neighborhood that have had a deal with this.”

Lindley said the lawsuit was a constant source of stress.

“We’re really glad that the whole thing’s over with and we can get back to… getting to the needs of the marginalized in our community without the distraction of this lawsuit,” said Lindley.

He said his church has never stopped its meal service which is provided around four times per week. He said he was expecting around 75 hungry visitors on Tuesday.