A Bend church that wants to relocate to avoid splitting its congregation between two services faces opposition from rural Deschutes County residents who say the proposed building is too big.

The Deschutes County Commission heard nearly five hours of sometimes-emotional testimony this week from congregants of Father’s House Church and people who live around the church’s proposed new site, a roughly 5-acre lot on Stevens Road about a mile east of Bend. Commissioners will decide this year whether to allow the church.

They may address a complaint from neighbors that the church had an unfair advantage by having a county planner, Anthony Raguine, work on the church’s application. Raguine, a longtime member of the church, worked on its application on his own time and helped present the application before a hearings officer.

Church opponents argue that the church benefited from Raguine’s knowledge of county records.

“The fact that they’re handy for him makes an amount of difference,” said John Schaeffer, one of the church opponents.

Dave Doyle, the county’s legal counsel, said the board can decide whether Raguine’s involvement in an initial hearing has any bearing on whether the church and its opponents received due process. But Raguine was not involved in the county commission’s review, and commissioners heard the case as though the church and its opponents were approaching the county for the first time.

“The idea there was that there is an unfair advantage,” Doyle said. “This is a de novo hearing, and it’s been wide open to anything and everything. I’m not sure that carries a whole lot of weight, ultimately.”

A hearings officer found the church would be the most prominent development in the area but wouldn’t prevent nearby landowners from continuing activities. But that decision rejected the church’s site plan because it didn’t adequately preserve topographical features and views.

The church has added more trees to its plan since that decision, said Matt Williams, an engineer with C.A. Rowles Engineering, who worked on the church’s plan. He said some views are obstructed by power lines, and others won’t be affected by the church building.

Updated plans call for shortening the 14,500-square-foot building by 3 feet from its original height, meaning the peaked roof would hit 26 feet, 8 inches. Schaeffer, who lives a few lots north of the property, said the building will still remain the same size and block views of open space.

“We are not against the church,” he said. “We don’t have a problem with the church. We have a problem with the building and development that’s completely out of scale.”

Because the church’s land wasn’t included in Bend’s recent urban growth boundary expansion, Schaeffer said the church would likely be the largest development in the area for decades. He said the church should try to expand its building in Bend instead — something that could be difficult because the existing church is on a septic system.

Julie Naslund, who lives on the lot just north of the proposed church, said she would see the church from every window of her house. Its construction would compromise the space, quiet and privacy she wanted when she moved to the property, she said.

“Our quiet Sunday mornings will now be shared with 200 to 300 other people,” she said. “Our dark evenings will now be compromised by headlights and parking lot lights at least two nights a week.”

The county’s hearings officer erred in determining that the church wouldn’t affect how residents use their property, Naslund said.

“Use has got to mean more than just being able to continue using our properties and homes,” she said. “While we will not be physically prevented from coming and going, from working in our yards, from cooking and eating, this is not the breadth of how people live in and around their homes.”

Church leaders and members said Father’s House needs to move to have space to do its work. The church was built for 176 congregants, but it was able to fit 200 by narrowing aisles and adding seats to the altar area.

Because the church has grown to more than 200 people, it’s had to split into two services. Sheila Wills, an associate pastor and children’s minister, said the growing congregation has stressed the nursery and Sunday school services. Splitting services means Sunday school classes are also split up, and the building doesn’t have space for separate nurseries for babies and toddlers.

“We have big 3-year-olds running around with babies that are crawling at best,” Wills said. “We’ve had more than one little hand stepped on, or a just-walking 1-year-old accidentally pushed over.”

Bob Pardee, a member of the church, said it would be a better use of the land than something like a dirt bike track or hay storage, or even some residential uses.

“I believe that Father’s House would be a better neighbor than you could typically find,” he said. “We have structured schedules. It’s not late at night. It’s not all day long.”

Randy Wills, the pastor of Father’s House church, said churches have a hard time finding space in Bend and Deschutes County. They’re allowed conditionally in the mixed-use agricultural zone where he wants to build a new church.

“If our church was one that the opposing people attended, they would not be opposing,” Wills said.

The new church would seat up to 325 people, and Wills said he doesn’t expect the congregation to outgrow the new church any time soon.

“It’s been a slow but steady growth,” he said. “We believe that this will be great for at least a decade, if not more.”

— Reporter: 541-633-2160; jshumway@bendbulletin.com