Judge orders Bullskin church to pay ‘donations’ for concerts
If a Bullskin Township church requires a “donation” to enter its concert events, the organization is operating illegally and must stop holding those events, a Fayette County judge has ruled. For each day that Church of Universal Love and Music founder William Pritts uses his land to host a concert, he will be ordered to make a $500 “donation” to the county, under a court order entered Tuesday.
“A ‘donation’ is a gift freely given. If a ‘donation’ is required in order to receive a product, or a service, or admission to a musical event, then it is not a ‘donation,’ but is merely a payment,” Judge Steve P. Leskinen wrote in an order barring the church from hosting concerts.
Leskinen based his decision, in part, on testimony from an employee of the county’s planning and
zoning office who attended a concert on Pritts’ land in September 2002 and was told that without making a donation, he could not enter.
County officials contend that the 150-acre parcel of land where Pritts hosts the church concerts isn’t zoned for such activities. The county previously denied a special exception that would have allowed him to have concerts at the Bullskin Township site.
Pritts said the church is a non-denominational parish committed to the spiritual growth of the families that attend, using music.
The order could cause problems starting today, when the three-day Freedom Festival begins at the Church of Universal Love and Music.
The event, according to the church’s Web site (www.ilovemusicchurch.com), features more than a dozen bands.
A call to the information line also listed the band lineup and heralded the event as, “No rules. Just peace, love, respect and lots of music. Don’t forget lots of music and don’t you forget respect.”
Calls to Pritts and his attorney, Thomas Bowlen, regarding the future of the event went unreturned Wednesday.
However, Pritts, of Bear Rocks Road, has said that there is
“no such thing” as an illegal church, citing his First Amendment rights.
He also noted that his church does not have music from hard rock bands and that noise complaints from neighbors are exaggerated. He claimed the music was no
louder than “a bird chirping in a tree.”
Leskinen’s ruling came after Pritts filed an appeal of the county zoning board’s August 2002 refusal to grant him a special exception to hold concerts on his A-1-zoned land. The appeal was filed this May.
“The pendency of that appeal does not give Mr. Pritts, or anyone else, the right to defy the clear terms and orderly procedures of the zoning ordinance in the interim. His defiance is even less excusable, because his appeal has not been pursued as promptly as it should have been,” wrote Leskinen.
In addition to having to ante up $500 per violation of the court’s order, Pritts will be held liable for attorney fees and litigation expenses incurred if the county has to bring him back to court.