TOWN OF HORSEHEADS, N.Y. (WETM) – A long-running dispute over zoning permits between a popular concert and event venue and the Town of Horseheads may not be over yet. There are new questions about whether the event will return to “The L” in 2024.
According to draft minutes from the Dec. 13 meeting, the Horseheads Town Board voted to approve a permit amendment requested by Journey Church to operate only a fitness center. At the Nov. 1 planning board meeting, the town stated:
“…from Pastor Kevin O’Shell, the applicant wishes to amend the application requesting only the operation of a fitness center and withdraw all requests for operation by Journey Church, Inc., as property owner, or by any other party as a “tenant.” I was contacted. , “lessee”, property manager, etc.”
After deliberation, the board determined that the proposed amendments would “not have a significant impact on the environment.”
The board stated:
A. All uses are permitted in the Residential A Zone.
B. Defined and characterized by the technical or ethical standards of a profession that requires a license or certification of a high school education or higher by the State of New York, such as financial consultant, accountant, tutor, artist, computer consultant, etc.; Use of professional offices, doctors, lawyers, speech therapists, physical therapists, hearing therapists that comply with them.
C. Approval by the City Planning Commission of the final development plan.
D. A separate plan showing the location of the professional office and the square footage of the office.
E. A separate plan showing the location of the fitness center and the total area of the center not to exceed 2,000 square feet.
F. An updated description of the current and proposed uses of the property and existing buildings after the date of this resolution.
G. All changes or additions to the uses permitted in the PUD beyond those set forth herein shall be returned to the Town Board for further action or interpretation.
In a January 2nd Facebook post, the mixed martial arts organization Gradius Fights announced that their kickboxing event will be returning to The L on February 17th. According to the post, tickets will go on sale soon.
As of Thursday, “The L” had no upcoming events listed on its website. The following message is written on the front page: “Get ready for an exciting array of shows coming in 2024. Stay tuned for an unforgettable musical journey.”
In a phone call with 18 News, Town of Horseheads Supervisor Don Fisher said the amended Planned Unit Development application does not allow the continuation of ticketed public events at The L. He said that he had not. Fisher told 18 News he was aware of a Facebook post announcing the MMA fight in February. Fisher said he would contact the church for more information. 18 News also reached out to Pastor Kevin O’Shell. Our message was not returned.
Minutes of the Nov. 1 Planning Commission meeting reference an email sent Oct. 30 from Journey Church’s interim senior pastor, the Rev. Kevin O’Shell, to Horseheads City Attorney John Mustico. The minutes read as follows:
“However, due to the myriad issues caused by ‘L’, this email has been attached at the end of the minutes. The number one reason is complaints about noise caused by concerts. The most important parts of the email are:
‘Given the state of the town, the reduction in property tax exempt status, the high number of noise complaints, the difficulty and expense of mitigating noise issues, and the burden on residents caused by hosting an “L” event, we believe that the 2023 Season Finally, it is impossible for us to continue holding “L” at our facility. ”. Given these facts, it seemed to me that the effort required to commemorate the agreement with iMatter would be better placed elsewhere. ”
The iMatter Foundation describes itself as a suicide prevention organization. The church was founded by Scott Lowmaster, former senior pastor of Journey Church. Adam Vance is referred to as the “Festival Director.” iMatter Foundation, Journey Church, and “The L” all share the same address at 116 Breesport Road.
18 News reached out to Adam Vance on Thursday. There was no communication prior to this publication.
In a livestream video posted to Facebook on Oct. 23, Vance said: Thanks to local news outlets, you’ll hear stories like this floating around the internet a lot these days. All scheduled events will take place, regardless of what you read on the internet or news reports. Everything that is announced is happening right here at ‘The L’. No other locations or other cancellation dates. Nothing will be moved and the remaining period scheduled for 2023 will be completed in-house,” Vance said.
“If you click on that link, you’ll see what’s going on over the next two and a half, three weeks. These will be the last shows of 2023. This is the end of us doing shows for good.” That doesn’t mean we’re done for 2023 as we ramp up for 2024. We hope to announce a lot of exciting things in time. “That’s the plan, we’re finalizing the details. We don’t want to announce things prematurely,” Vance said.
On October 17th, 18 News reported that the Rev. Kevin O’Shell, interim lead pastor of Journey Church, said at a Horseheads Town Planning Commission meeting that the I Matter Foundation “will no longer sponsor events of this nature.” “I won’t,” he reportedly said. church. Pastor Oschel said the church is “considering moving currently booked iMatter events to an off-site location.” The meeting took place on October 4th.
In the full email, presented at the Nov. 1 Planning Commission meeting, Pastor Oschel describes Journey Church’s relationship with iMatter and acknowledges it is a “pretty unconventional way of operating.” said.
“We acknowledge that this is a fairly unconventional way of operating. However, some background information may help explain some of the reasons why this approach was taken. The iMatter Foundation, Inc. , was founded to expand the church’s ministry in support of suicide prevention. As a church, we have limited opportunities to reach all areas of the community, but as an independent, secular 501(c) )(3) is less constrained. Our congregation provides a large number of volunteers to iMatter Foundation activities, and much of Journey Church’s outreach spending goes to support iMatter Foundation activities. The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges to our ability to reach out to our communities, both from an opportunity and financial standpoint. This is why Journey Church partners with iMatter Foundation in establishing “L.” That was a motivator. We provided the venue and equipment, and many believers volunteered their time during the event while the iMatter Foundation ran the event.
Here is a list of the last remaining events on the schedule (concerts are bold):
11/05 Alexandra Kay
11/10 Mick Foley Comedy
11/11 Gradius MMA
11/14 Buster Dan
The recent request for a PUD modification boils down to a request for permission to allow the gym to continue. An LLC has been formed and a lease agreement is being drafted with the gym owner. The details deemed most interesting to the town were agreed upon by both parties. That is, Jim will occupy the rooms designated as Rooms 203 and 207 in the AJH Design Plan for the Church Addition, Glad Tidings Journey Center Drawing Number A-102. I believe the town already has copies of these plans, but will provide additional copies tomorrow morning. The gym owner will not be charged any rent for the first year of the gym’s operation, and he may not collect any rent for another year. The gym is currently open Monday through Saturday, and we hope to continue to do so.
Finally, the barber shop has ceased operations at our facility and moved to a new location. Thank you again for your patience and kindness.
Sincerely,
Kevin H. Oschel
interim senior pastor
Journey Church”
As we reported in September, Journey Church lost some of its tax exemption due to revenue from concert venue The El. According to property records, Journey Church lost 65% of his tax-exempt status. This is the percentage of revenue I was getting from “The L.” The church owed $33,031 in school taxes in 2023. ”
At the Sept. 6 planning board meeting, Rev. O’Shell stated that Rev. Lomaster is no longer affiliated with the church in any capacity. Pastor Oschel also told the town’s solicitor that the church “left behind quite a mess” to clean up. Lawmaster told 18 News by phone that he resigned on Aug. 1, citing what he described as “a lot of conflict, a lot of crazy things going on, and I’m just tired.”
As we first reported in March, the Town of Horseheads sent a letter to Journey Church saying it should “cease all commercial activity on the property” until proper zoning requirements are in place. Ta. The letter said the church had applied to conduct a commercial operation on the property. However, the town said it only approved the professional office use and not the “numerous uses requested in the application.” In addition to the concert venue, the church also operates a fitness center, barber shop, wedding venue, and had plans to open a cafe-restaurant, according to the town.
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