By Karl Ostrom and Jim Mulligan
Seattle Times
April 05, 2001
King County’s efforts to curb urban sprawl have met vocal opposition in the past weeks because of regulations that would limit the size of churches and parochial schools in rural areas to 10,000 square feet. A few church spokespersons have attacked the county’s efforts to enforce Urban Growth Area boundaries, saying that churches should be exempt from these regulations.
The most visible example has been the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle. The Archbishop has requested a limit of 80,000 square feet – this is 10,000 square feet larger than the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. The Archbishop has stated that failure to grant approval would be tantamount to limiting the church’s freedom of religious expression and that he would press his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Many in the religious community have a different perspective (see Rev. Rodney Romney’s excellent March 24 letter to the editor of The Times, “Wilderness and open space enhance spiritual life”). We are among those who strongly support reasonable size limits on all structures in rural areas, including churches. Protecting our farm and forest lands from sprawl is important to our quality of life and for maintaining ecological integrity. It is important to us regardless of our diverse religious orientations.
The significance of strong urban boundaries is illustrated by King County’s recent history in grappling with sprawl. From 1970 to 1990, King County’s population increased by 39 percent, while its developed land increased by 86 percent. These numbers represent an epidemic of generic strip malls, giant parking lots and housing developments with tremendous consequences. The costs to society include under-funded schools, disappearing farm and forest lands, overflowing sewers, endangered salmon, sky-rocketing housing prices, and some of the worst traffic congestion in the country.
In 1994, King County responded to the crisis of sprawl by adopting “smart growth” policies that included the setting of growth boundaries around urban areas (for more information see: www.1000friends.org). Within the designated areas exists adequate space for growth, including the new construction of churches and schools. And, by protecting land outside the boundaries, these policies have greatly contributed to the reduction of sprawl.
These policies put limitations on building size outside of the growth boundaries, so as to protect community character and environmental integrity. The limitations on building within rural areas (outside of the growth boundaries) have been created with care to permit and encourage the building of schools, churches and other facilities on a size-scale that serves the rural community, but does not contribute to sprawl.
The truth is that there are holes in the boundaries, loopholes in the regulations that need to be closed. Rather than creating even larger loopholes for churches and parochial schools, we need to fine-tune these regulations for appropriate scale in rural areas, and apply them equally to all institutions.
Across faith traditions, there is a renewed effort to discern what it means to live as society while respecting the integrity of creation. For example, the Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter on the Columbia River recognizes both the beauty of creation and our ethical responsibility for sharing water and land equitably among all peoples and all species. In addition, the biblical literature speaks of God’s creation as one where everything has its appropriate place. For example, in the 104th Psalm, the Creator designs life with the waters, the winds, the grasses, the trees, the animals, and humanity all mutually supporting one another in a wondrous harmony.
The Bible takes a dim view of our desire for unlimited growth, as symbolized by the story of the Tower of Babel. “The people said, `Let us make a tower with its top in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves.’ The Lord said, `This is only the beginning of what they will do’ . . . and the Lord scattered them over the face of all the earth.”
On the other hand, when people create cities that reflect a high level of care, those cities can serve as symbols of respecting creation’s inherent design. Abraham – respected as a spiritual leader by Jews, Moslems and Christians alike – is said to have envisioned a city whose architect and builder is God.
Biblically, there is a place for the vibrant life of the city, the rural farmlands and the wild places. And nowhere does Scripture state that the efficacy of the temple, synagogue or church in society is determined by the size of its buildings.
Our challenge as religious people is now to embody our visions of God’s purpose within creation in the actual shaping of our cities and rural communities. Can we “walk our talk”? Will we speak up and support reasonable and appropriate growth limitations on a scale that protects creation’s ecological balance? If we can do this, it is a step on the way toward being consistent with our faiths’ visions and ethical values.
Dr. Karl Ostrom is a volunteer with 1,000 Friends of Washington. The Rev. Jim Mulligan is executive director of Earth Ministry.