With a large building and a small congregation, Moose Jaw Alliance Church (MJAC) wants to use its space better to benefit the community and hopes changing its zoning status can facilitate that.
Rev. Mike Magnus, the church’s lead pastor, spoke to city council on Dec. 18 and asked officials to rezone 14 Neslia Place — at the corner of Ninth Avenue Northwest and Thatcher Drive Northwest — to a C1 neighbourhood commercial district from an R3 high-density residential district.
In turn, council voted 5-2 to have city administration proceed with advertising the proposed zoning change and prepare a bylaw amendment to rezone the property.
Councillors Heather Eby and Jamey Logan were opposed.
Council had initially considered tabling the request so city administration could provide more tax-related information to the church. However, members voted 5-2 against that idea; Eby and Logan were in favour.
A place of health and healing
City council approved MJAC to operate as a discretionary use at its current location on Oct. 5, 1987, while this approval would remain after rezoning has occurred, a report said.
The church believes it is disadvantaged by this zoning since other houses of worship in commercial or community service districts can host businesses as either permitted or discretionary uses; such venues are discretionary in all residential districts.
“We seek for Moose Jaw Alliance Church to be known as a place of health and healing for physical, mental and spiritual issues, where we can build community and people can give and receive help in a variety of different ways,” Magnus said.
Community groups already use the gym for activities such as sports, blood donations, Christmas concerts, grad ceremonies, weddings, funerals, birthday parties, anniversaries and other gatherings. There is also a grief-share program, a Narcotics Anonymous group, a weight-loss group and the massage therapy business, Neslia Wellness.
The pastor noted that besides the massage therapy business, a soccer organization also rents space in the winter for programming.
The R3 district allows personal service establishments (massage) as a discretionary use and forbids offices (counselling), while offices in the CS community service zoning are still discretionary, so C1 is the best option, he continued.
The pastor told council that Family Hope Counselling had considered setting up in MJAC but found a new location. Yet, the church still wanted to rezone the property for other opportunities with similar businesses.
The church’s parking lot can accommodate more than 200 vehicles, so there shouldn’t be any issues between groups that use the space, he said.
“We’re not seeking to make a large profit on rentals, and any small profit we do make is reinvested into the upkeep and improvement of the building so we can continue to provide space for a variety of gatherings for years to come,” Magnus added.
Coun. Crystal Froese thought changing the zoning to accommodate smaller businesses was a great idea, especially since the church has plenty of space and needs funds for maintenance.
Coun. Kim Robinson asked whether the massage business and soccer organization pay property taxes, to which Magnus replied they don’t. Yet, the church has informed them that rent will increase to accommodate the zoning change and both have agreed to the increase.
“It will still be less (for rent) than anywhere else,” he added.
Robinson then asked city administration whether rezoning the site to C1 meant the entire building was taxable and whether the taxes would be retroactive.
Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development, replied no to both queries. Instead, taxation generation would occur after council passes the amended bylaw, while collecting taxes occurs only when the zoning changes.
This prompted Magnus to ask administration whether the use of the gym was taxable all the time or only when renting it out. Administration said it would have to conduct research and provide an answer later.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.
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