PVAC owners plan to sue Petaluma over alleged conflict of interest

The Petaluma Valley Athletic Club owners are challenging a city council ruling denying them the ability to sell their facility to a church.|

A contentious legal battle has emerged in the wake of the Petaluma City Council’s decision to deny plans to turn Petaluma Valley Athletic Club into a church, with the business owners and religious leaders likely to file a federal lawsuit alleging conflict of interest and religious discrimination.

Despite charged public comments at its Monday meeting, the city council did not move to reconsider a previous 4-3 vote that denied a request to rezone the 85 Old Corona Road site to allow for a church and school. The council decision, primarily based on concerns over flooding in the area, went against an earlier planning commission recommendation.

Rob and Martha Domont, who have owned the club for 19 years, have been in talks with pastor Colton Irving of the 360 Church of Petaluma for a year about taking over the facility, which the owners say they are forced to close amid declining membership.

John O’Connor, a San Francisco-based lawyer representing the gym and church, alleged that the council’s vote against the proposal constitutes religious discrimination by denying the church the right of assembly afforded to other businesses and schools in the surrounding business park. He said the city is stripping the property of “all its economically valuable uses” by not granting a zoning amendment needed to open the church.

“There is no danger in having people carrying bibles rather than tennis rackets,” he said.

O’Connor also accused Councilman Dave King of “infecting the vote” with a conflict of interest stemming from the fact that his wife, Lynn King, is a member of PVAC and emailed members of the tennis club to encourage them to attend a planning commission meeting and speak out about the zoning change.

“The conflict is glaring and stark - the councilman’s wife and the councilman adamantly want this for their own private use as a tennis club,” he said.

King, also a member of PVAC, refuted the claim in a heated exchange.

“I spoke with the city attorney easily over a month prior to this being agendized,” he said. “I viewed each of the rules and determined there is no actual conflict of interest and so I participated. As for my wife being a leading opponent, that is a gross, gross overstatement.”

O’Connor said that the suit, which will seeks unspecified damages and an overruling of the city’s council’s decision will be filed in federal court in the next few weeks “come hell or high water.”

“What is disturbing here is that the city council would risk a large amount of taxpayer dollars over the petty benefits that they sought to preserve,” he said.

Meanwhile, the owners of the gym have sent letters to members saying the club will close at the end of the month. Martha Domont said they will likely lease out the facility until they can find a suitable buyer.

“It’s like having a child on life support for the past two years and finally having to pull the plug,” she said. “It’s so painful.”

A group of PVAC members has formed to try and salvage the only tennis and racquetball facility in Petaluma, which members say fosters a tight-knit community. Toby Young, who is part of the group, said members have considered buying the facility.

“The members are sad to see the club close its doors,” he said. “The reality is it might be sold as a car lot or some other use. However, until then we will hold out hope that it will be purchased and revived as a health club with tennis and racquetball courts. We think there is untapped potential and opportunity for someone with vision who is willing to buy the club and make some changes.”

Eric Danly, the city attorney, said the city is aware of the threat of litigation and the issue will likely be discussed in an upcoming closed session of the city council.

“They made a lot of allegations in their presentation and we see there’s a lot of lack of merit,” he said.

Mayor David Glass said he voted against the plans because of flooding issues on the property, resulting in a final decision that had “nothing to do with tennis or a church.”

“To get a mayor to vote differently on flooding issues, the city needs to get a new mayor,” he said. “This mayor never voted to put people in the flood plain.”

Irving, the founding pastor the church, said he retained a civil engineer who devised workarounds for the flooding issue, should the city council desire them, though gym owners have said that water has never entered the building.

Irving said he’s lost nearly $90,000 in deposits and fees during the process of attempting to purchase the property for more than $5 million, a deal that’s since been called off. He said after a victory at the planning commission, the church sold a Payran Street property that served as collateral for a loan for its current Lindberg Lane location. As escrow closes and the collateral is lost, he said the church property will have to be sold as well, leaving the 250-member congregation homeless.

He said the church, drained of financial resources, will hold its services in a Petaluma public school until a solution is found. A group of elders will vote this weekend about whether to join the Domont’s lawsuit.

“I don’t know if 360 will survive this,” said Irving, adding he plans to run for mayor in 2018 to “right the course of our city” should the church not be allowed to move to the business park. “I really don’t know if I’ll survive this. I could be jobless. There’s something un-American about the whole thing.”

(Matt Brown contributed to this report.)

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