Church warming shelter told by Metro East city to pay up and pack up

By Shoshana Stahl, Cameron Bopp

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    EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois (KMOV) — A Metro East church operating as a warming shelter is facing pushback and the potential for thousands of dollars in fines after the city ordered it to close its doors due to zoning permit issues.

First Baptist Church in Edwardsville is operating as a warming shelter as part of a collaboration with the nonprofit Overnight Warming Locations (OWL). Now, the effort is facing mounting pressure and possible closure as the city says it’s operating illegally.

The nonprofit says it’s being told to “lock the doors or pay $750 per day” in a Facebook post.

Michelle Babb with the Glen-Ed Ministerial Alliance said the overnight warming location is essential.

“Being out in cold weather is really dangerous,” Babb said. “They need to stay here. They are rooted here. They are our neighbors even though they don’t have addresses, so we need to provide shelter for them.”

The city says warming shelters in downtown Edwardsville are required to operate under a special use permit, something the city says it notified the church of back in October. The church at 534 St. Louis Street is located in a downtown mixed-use zoning area, MU-1, according to the city.

“The City provided the special use permit application, and the timeline for submission to enable it to be heard as quickly as possible. The City administrator also offered to waive the [church’s] application fee if it was submitted prior to a November 13, [2023] deadline to be addressed at a subsequent Zoning Board of Appeals meeting,” the City of Edwardsville said in a statement.

“We feel that the overnight warming location is right in line with the church’s ministry, with the church’s mission and with what it means to operate as a church, so we declined to do that,” Babb said.

A fine of $750 is applicable for each day the warming shelter operates without the special use permit, according to OWL.

On top of the church receiving one such citation in December, the nonprofit says a cease-and-desist letter from Edwardsville arrived at First Baptist.

“The church has had a special permit since 1969 that allows them (all churches have one) to perform ministry work. The activities with OWL are ministry work and fall under this special permit use. Why the city believes it doesn’t, is a mystery,” a representative for OWL told First Alert 4.

“The City of Edwardsville has ordered the First Baptist Church to appear in court next Thursday,” the nonprofit said.

Sabrina Trupia volunteers at the shelter and lives in the neighborhood where it’s located.

Trupia said it’s fulfilling a need in the community that has not been offered before.

“They’re not necessarily unhoused but don’t have heating, so this is a service to the whole community,” Trupia said.

We’re told Friday night, several people stayed over, and they expect that number to go up as the weekend continues.

“This is an issue of life and death to me,” Trupia said. “The fact that somebody can go in there and spend the night on the cots we have, we have warm food, warm beverage. They have the opportunity to take a shower, brush their teeth.”

In a Facebook post urging residents to contact city leaders relaying their opposition to the decision to fine and close the church’s warming shelter, OWL said:

The church said, “We want to provide sanctuary to those who desperately need it.”

The City of Edwardsville said, “Cease!”

The church said, “People we know have suffered in the bitter cold and we’ve vowed not to let that happen again.”

The City of Edwardsville said, “Desist!”

Despite the potential for more fines, OWL says First Baptist Church will be open tonight to anyone needing a warm place to stay. This comes as First Alert 4 is tracking bitter-cold temperatures into the weekend.

First Alert 4 is told the First Baptist Church will receive pro bono work from Simmons Hanly Conroy to fight any legal action the City of Edwardsville.

“This likely would have been resolved well before now had the organizers acted [in time],” the City of Edwardsville said in a statement to First Alert 4.

Edwardsville also will open the lobby of the Public Safety Building, 333 S. Main Street, for those who need overnight shelter from the cold.

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