County committee's vote hands Reaching Hearts another delay

The Prince George's County Council dealt another setback last week to a Seventh-day Adventist congregation that has been trying to build a church in West Laurel for nearly a decade.

On June 23, the council's Committee on Transportation, Housing and Environment voted 4-0 against changing a water permit category, a change that would have lifted restrictions on the development of a 17-acre parcel by allowing the church to connect to the county's sewer and water lines.

Since Reaching Hearts International Ministries bought the land in 2002, the development of the property has been delayed as church leaders worked through regulatory issues and tense debates with nearby residents. Three years ago, Reaching Hearts was awarded $3.7 million by a federal jury that ruled the Prince George's County government violated the church's civil rights by blocking the construction.

Church officials had requested the category change because the property fell under two different designations. A 3-acre tract of the property is a Category 3, and can be connected to the county's sewer and water lines, but the rest of the property is a Category 5, which means public sewer and water service is not planned anytime soon.

District 1 County Council member Mary Lehman, who represents Laurel and lives in West Laurel, said she voted against changing the Category 5 designation because the church can still build on the first three acres.

"The Category 5 should be kept for the back acres of the property," Lehman said. "The issue still has to be taken up by the full council. Church officials … can certainly go back to court again, but I don't know if they will."