FAIRFIELD, Calif. — A Fairfield church that helps the homeless population hopes to reopen, but not before the city says it must pay a six-figure fine.
The fine was placed after the city said a portion of the building that served the homeless population was deemed unsafe because of a leaking roof and mold.
The matter was brought before the planning commission Wednesday evening, with hopes to remove the fine from the reopening condition list since the commission doesn't have the authority to remove the fine entirely.
City Church Lead Pastor Scott Mulvey says the issues the city brought up have been fixed or are in the process of being fixed and they are ready to reopen, but one of the conditions for reopening requires the church to pay a $310,000 fine.
“We have spent over $150,000 doing upgrades,” said Mulvey. “There was some repair work that needed to be done, but not as quickly as they demanded it.”
Matthew McReynolds with Pacific Justice Institute is an attorney representing the church.
“We have to get the church back to the wonderful work they were doing before,” said McReynolds.
The city of Fairfield says it has been working on fixing the issues with the church for the past few years, but it was never handled with urgency.
“We do not want to fine people and we want to reach compliance, and we care about health and safety. When we cannot reach that, I have to move it to the next level,” said Jeremy Profitt, who works with Fairfield code enforcement.
After two hours of comments, questions and answers, the commissioners approved removing the large fine from the condition list, meaning the church’s homeless ministry can reopen, however, they will still be responsible for the fine as they and the city work together to resolve the issue.
The church tells ABC10 it hopes to reopen in a few months after finishing construction.
The decision could be appealed to the Fairfield City Council.
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