CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Trailers serving as a temporary shelter on The Rock Church's property have been at the center of legal disputes after the Town of Castle Rock said it violated code. Now, Denver7 is following up on a new settlement between the church and town.
The Rock Church's Lead Pastor Mike Polhemus can still remember the night nearly a decade ago when he came up with the idea to offer people temporary housing on church property until they got back on their feet.
"It was a rainy night, after the service," he recalled. "I asked them where they were going to go, and they said they didn't know."
He said after driving around to hotels, there were no options for that person to stay.
"It was at that point I actually said, 'We have to have a solution,'" he said.
They outfitted a trailer that was previously used to store food for their distribution services into a temporary shelter. Eventually, another trailer was donated and they would host individuals and families who faced hard times. The church offered services and helped them move on after they got back on their feet.
In 2024, the Town of Castle Rock said that violated the land use code.
"It's part of an alarming trend that we've been seeing across the country of cities and state governments criminalizing compassion," said Ryan Gardner, senior counsel with First Liberty Institute, which represented the church in more than a year-long legal battle.
"The Rock feels religiously called to care for these people, and so that's what they've always been about," Gardner said.
Castle Rock
Pastor hopes for agreement with Castle Rock in effort to house those in need
"We knew our town was trying to do what was right, and we believed we were doing what was right," Polhemus said.
Denver7 is following up on a new settlement between the town and the church that allows the church to continue what they're doing, have a total of up to seven trailers if they want, and the town will cover all the legal feed the church incurred: $225,000.
"We get to work together now, instead of being adversarial to each other," said Polhemus.
The Scripps News Group reached out to the Town of Castle Rock for a comment. They sent us the joint statement released by the Town and the Church:
On May 13, 2024, the Church of the Rock (“the Rock”) filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The Rock sought and received a court order enjoining the Town from enforcing its land-use laws to prohibit the Rock’s operation of its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry, through which the Rock provides shelter to those in need in trailers on its property, during the pendency of the case.
Since the Court issued its injunction order, the Rock and the Town have sought to resolve this dispute without further litigation. As part of those efforts, on December 2, 2024, the Town issued a revised Letter of Determination that explicitly permits the Rock to operate its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry in the two trailers currently located on the Rock’s property and clarifies that the applicable Planned Development zoning regulations do not prevent the Rock from providing additional shelter during public emergencies through its partnership with the Red Cross.
The Town and the Rock now wish to inform the public that they have reached an agreement intended to end the current litigation and settle issues regarding the future use of the Rock’s property to provide temporary housing to those in need. As part of this agreement, a new Letter of Determination will permit the Rock to operate its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry located in its existing parking lot. The Town has the option to install additional fencing or landscaping to partially screen the location of the units from the surrounding neighborhood in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
The Town acknowledges the Rock’s invaluable services to the Castle Rock community through its longstanding efforts to provide support for those members of our community most in need. The Rock acknowledges its responsibilities as a good neighbor and looks forward to working in partnership with the Town while providing those services. The Town and the Rock believe that this agreement is in the best interest of all parties and successfully balances the Rock’s religious free-exercise rights with the Town’s public interest in enforcing land use regulations and protecting the general welfare, public health, and safety. The Town and the Rock are no longer in an adversarial posture in regard to the litigation and look forward to productive cooperation and potential partnerships on issues in the future.
