ST. AUGUSTINE RECORD EDITORIAL: Mission is on a mission — without bounds

I was the nineteenth* speaker among 21 of us who unanimously spoke against this abortion of a land use demand by the local bishop, who did not speak and was not available to answer our questions. As I've written previously, canon law and Pope Francis's encyclical, Laudato si, on the environment preclude this action by the bishop, which would turn our Mission and Shrine into a "piece of filth," in the words of the encyclical.

* Corrected

I suggested inviting Pope Francis to visit the Mission and Shrine, and issuing letters rotatory to determine the position of the Pope, who is the head of a sovereign state (Vatican City), and a beloved reformer who loves small towns.  

The Pope does not support destroying the Mission and Shrine with a parking garage:  that is a frolic and fetish of the bishop.  There is no evidence in the record the Bishopric is empowered to speak for the Pope on this historic 1565 landing zone landmark.

I said in my testimony, "Pope Francis, please take down this fence." The neighbors are right about the Bishop being a bad neighbor and unjust steward.

I also suggested that the City use its powers to declare the mission a protected local landmark, which we used to save 32 Grenada Street from the wrecking ball of developer/speculator LOUIS JOHN ARBIZZANI.

RECORD EDITORIAL: Mission is on a mission — without bounds Sunday, July 14, 2019
Posted at 12:32 PM, July 13, 2019

Let us begin by saying the take-home for us in watching the story of the Mission Nombre de Dios plans for expansion unfold, is the near total suspicion of neighbors, commissioners and casual observers, the Diocese of St. Augustine can’t be trusted.

Nothing could be a more damning claim these days in terms of the Catholic Church and the serious problems is has, denied, covered up and finally forced to apologize for to the world.

The Catholic Church can’t be trusted...

Being a newspaper, we tend to take a cautious view of any requests to sidestep existing zoning, land regulations and comp plans. Frankly, the opinion pages really got interested when attorney Ellen-Avery Smith was hired by the church to make its case.

She could be described as the tail-gunner for the squadron of new projects attempting to stretch existing development rights all over the county. She’s good at it.

But we might have imagined the Church would take a less “pugnacious” champion in dealing with its city and residents — call it friendly fire.

The Church’s documentation for its request for “vested rights” seems implausible, not demonstrable.

Attorney Avery-Smith continually refers to a land use change 12 years ago as an “error” on the city’s part. More clearly it was a land use correction, which culled churches all over the city out of a certain public-private classification set aside for governmental agencies. And churches are normally happy that separation exists, if for nothing else than public relations.

You could pick apart the Church’s arguments piece-by-piece — and, to their credit, earnest public speakers did that in the City Commission meeting July 8.


But you need to grasp the “big picture” drawn by the smaller ones to come to an uneasy conclusion that the church plans were intentionally casual, amorphous and cautious — more to the point, misleading.

“We don’t intend to do this now...” but the land use “error” it seeks to “fix” allows anything to be built on the site with little or no input or oversight by the city or its PZB, Commission, HARB and any other office of oversight.

The word “carte blanche” came up time and time again in connection with the vestment demand. And it should have.

The request would also give the Church 60 percent permeable lot coverage on the beautiful site. While the Church is now asking only for an earthen amphitheater, it still has plans for a multi-story parking garage “down the road,” according to Avery-Smith.

In truth, it could have plans for Jai-alai Fronton under the vested land rights it seeks.

The sensible, and neighborly thing to do, might be for, at this time, the Diocese to seek a Planned Unit Development agreement with the city. In it, the two work out some type compromise. Commissioner Roxanne Horvath was correct in a talk with The Record, in that the process — if nothing else — would force the Diocese to “lay all its cards on the table.”

And that’s what should have occurred in the first place. Getting miffed at a neighborhood church is one thing. But losing faith and trust is another altogether.


The City Commission gave the Diocese a unanimous “no.”

If you’re seeing the big picture, you can’t help but suspect one of the more historic revered of all religious icons in the New World is trying to get one over on its city and residents.

If that sounds tough, it should. It’s set the bar of belief very low. And that’s likely to hamstring any continuing efforts it may be attempting on the property, other than the courts.

From where we sit, that’s the sad place this turf war was bound to end up, anyway.

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St. Augustine commissioners deny Mission Nombre de Dios amphitheater request

By Sheldon Gardner
Posted Jul 8, 2019 at 9:00 PM
Updated Jul 10, 2019 at 10:04 AM

After a rejection by the City Commission, the Diocese of St. Augustine hasn’t given up on its plans for the Mission Nombre de Dios site.

St. Augustine commissioners unanimously denied a request by the diocese on Monday night that would have allowed the organization to build an amphitheater at the mission grounds on San Marco Avenue — a site with centuries of religious history.

The Diocese was seeking a determination of vested rights, an acknowledgement that the diocese already had the rights to build based on the site’s history. An error by the city in changing its Comprehensive Plan more than a decade ago had caused the need for the diocese to make the request, diocese attorney Ellen Avery-Smith said.

In addition to the amphitheater, the diocese plans other changes such as upgrading walkways and paths.

Diocese spokeswoman Kathleen Bagg, in an email to The Record, said that the diocese was disappointed with the Commission’s decision.

“We were hoping to see more leadership on their part,” Bagg wrote. “The diocese will move forward with a majority of projects as planned. As for the enhancements to the outdoor altar area currently on the property, we will have to study our options.”

The vested rights request came after the diocese removed a previous request to the city for land use and zoning changes. Plans for a parking garage at the site have, at least for now, been taken off the table. Residents opposed the earlier proposal and what the Diocese presented on Monday.

Mission Director Joana Stark said the amphitheater would seat several hundred to around 1,000 at max, and Avery-Smith said it would be more like an earthen berm. The Mission wants to build the amphitheater and make other improvements for pilgrimage groups.

The Commission’s decision came after lengthy public comment, and people raised concerns such as increases in noise and traffic.


Some people said or indicated that they don’t trust what church officials have said and believe that, despite assurances that the site will be peaceful and true to its purpose, that burdens for neighbors and the city would come.

“I think there is an idea here behind it that says, ‘We really want to intensify the use of the property,’ and that becomes a problem,” said Michele VanDoren, who lives near the mission.

Commissioners said the request didn’t provide enough information about how the grounds might be able to change or intensify if vested rights were granted.

Commissioners also raised concerns about allowing something that might draw more traffic to San Marco Avenue, which is already frequently congested.

“San Marco is not functioning as any of us want it to function,” Mayor Tracy Upchurch said.

In other business

• Commissioners approved a resolution setting the proposed millage rate at 7.5 mills, the same rate. They also approved a resolution for the next budget year to set the fire assessment fee at $0.0689 per square foot for residential and $0.1275 per square foot for non-residential.

• Commissioners delayed approving the license agreement for the Cuna Street project led by John Arbizzani, who wants to use the section of the street between Charlotte Street and Avenida Menendez for outdoor dining. He’s planning to pay a monthly fee and part of construction costs to revamp the road so he can use it for an adjacent restaurant. Part of the time the street section would be a commercial loading zone.

• Commissioners selected members for their short-term rental committee, which is tasked with investigating issues caused by vacation rentals and offering possible solutions. The members: Parrish Jones, Cindy Wasserbauer, Melinda Rakoncay, Tom Day, Brian Funk, Debi Sauls and Pat Dobosz.