God squeezing the life out of Texas town
STAFFORD, Texas — They are not the words one expects to hear from a politician or a Southerner, and Leonard Scarcella is both: “Our city has an excessive number of churches.” Scarcella is mayor of this Houston-area community, which has 51 churches and other religious institutions packed into its 7 square miles. With some 300 undeveloped, potentially revenue-producing acres left in Stafford, officials are scrambling to find a legal way to keep more tax-exempt churches from building here.
If there’s one thing that most Texans just can’t get enough of, it’s God. Yep, most Texans are fully convinced that they not only live in God’s country (it only feels like Hell this time of year), they also believe that they are God’s Chosen People. One sure way to get an idea some traction among Texans is to portray it as blessed and endorsed by God Almighty His Own Self. Of course, even here in Texas, one can have too much of a God…er, good…thing. You need look no farther than Stafford, next door to the oh-so-artificial, oh-so-Republican Death Star that is Sugar Land.
Stafford, while some locals may think it blessed by God, looks more like it has been invaded by various iterations of the Almighty. Frankly, the city’s running out of room, especially for tax-exempt religious organizations that use city services without paying for them. Yep, there goes the tax base….
And on the eighth day God blessed Texas.
But not in Stafford.
Stafford, population 19,227, is the largest city in Texas without a property tax, and it depends on sales taxes and business fees for revenue. Nonprofits have been attracted by its rapid growth and minimal deed restrictions. “It’s thrown everything out of balance, plus providing zero revenue. Somebody’s got to pay for police, fire and schools,” City Councilman Cecil Willis said.
In 2003, around the time the 45th church settled in, city leaders began looking for a way to slow the pace of construction. Public meetings were held; “we had people of different religions attending, people in their religious garb, Buddhists in their orange gowns and whatever else, talking about this very openly,” Scarcella said.
An ordinance eventually passed that required those who wanted to build a church — and other public gathering places, such as bowling alleys and community halls — to undergo a rigorous review process and obtain City Council approval.
Before the ordinance, “you could pretty much come in here and say, ‘I want to open up a church,’ and I’d say, ‘OK,’ ” said Gene Bane, the city’s director of building permits.
In his office is a large map of Stafford that is dotted with round yellow stickers, each dot denoting a church or religious facility. In some parts of town, the dots are so close together they nearly meld into a big yellow glob.
In one quarter-mile section near the city center, parishioners can choose among 17 churches. There are three small churches in the Quail Ridge Plaza shopping center, and three large brick churches on the street behind it. Down the road, the Evangelical Formosan Church is tucked behind a muffler shop.
Man, I want to be the attorney who handles the first lawsuit brought by a church denied it’s place in the sun by the city of Stafford. In fact, I have an even better idea- seeing as how I’m not an attorney, anyway. I’m going to buy a parcel of land in Stafford and build a church. Our Holy Lady Of Perptual Motion will be an opening and welcoming church, and I bet it will be the first church in Stafford with a stripper pole near the pulpit. Yes, we’ll be doing things a little bit differently- instead of passing the collection plate, we’ll have slot machines, f’ristance. And we won’t be expecting people to get up on Sunday mornings and come to church hung over at the equivalent of oh-dark-thirty. No, services at Our Holy Lady of Perpetual Motion will be at a more reasonable and civil hour- say noon on Tuesdays- when we can actually do some good. Yep…we’re going to reach people where they live. After all, isn’t that what Jesus would do?? ;p)
Yeah, I’d like to see the City of Stafford shut THAT down, eh?
