Supreme Court Denies Coastal Church’s Emergency Request to Resume Services in Flagler Beach Shopping Center

The Florida Supreme Court has rejected Coastal Family Church of Flagler Beach’s request to resume in-person services at the church pending the disposition of litigation in a lower court. It is the latest defeat for the congregation of about 400 in litigation that began last August, soon after the church bought the property that used to be a Badcock furniture store. 

The court’s ruling is procedural. It is not necessarily indicative of the ultimate outcome of the case.

Flagler County Circuit Judge Sandra Upchurch in January issued an injunction against Pastor Roderick J. Palmer as a trustee of the church, forbidding in-person services at the Flagler Square facility. The judge’s injunction was the result of a lawsuit filed by Flagler Square Jax, owner of two of the three units at the shopping center (one of the units is subdivided into several storefronts). 

Flagler Square contends that the church violated covenants forbidding large assemblies there. The church contends Flagler Square is applying the covenants capriciously and unequally. 

The church appealed to the Fifth District Court of Appeal on First Amendment grounds, citing the right to free assembly and freedom of religion. It also filed an emergency motion to stay the injunction–to allow for services while the case was making its way to a disposition. After allowing services for a few days, the appeals court denied the emergency motion. The church then filed a similar motion with the Florida Supreme Court.   

On April 14, five justices concurred in denying the motion. That means no in-person services at Coastal Family Church at least until the case at the Fifth District is resolved, which could be weeks or months. 

“A temporary injunction is appropriate as the ongoing injury and harm to [Flagler Square] outweighs any potential harm to the [Palmer] especially since [Palmer] went into his ownership with eyes wide open, aware of the restrictive covenant, and chose to operate in violation of same making expenditures all along the way in furtherance of the known violation,” Flagler Square argued. 

The pastor and Flagler Square have been trading motions and arguments at the Fifth District level. Flagler Square two weeks ago filed a motion to recover attorneys’ fees and costs, even though the court has not yet ruled. It would not be unusual for the losing party to pay the winning party’s fees. Palmer and the church are represented pro bono (meaning at no cost to the church) by the Liberty Counsel, an Orlando-based nonprofit that represents many parties in religious-expression cases. Flagler Square Jax is represented by David Black of the Plantation-based Frank, Weinberg & Black law firm. 

“One of the tenants of my client and the property,” Black told the judge in a mid-January hearing that preceded the injunction, “is Dollar Tree Stores, a national tenant. And as you’re probably aware from other cases, national tenants are very particular in what they will allow or not allow when they lease property in shopping centers from commercial landlords. They’re very concerned with things such as visibility, parking, other construction, co-tenancies, other operations. Those are things that are found within almost every national commercial landlord/tenant lease. That applies in this particular case.”

The property’s “declarations” state that as long as the Dollar Tree is there, restrictions apply for other units’ occupants. “Number 19 of that list is, there cannot be a banquet hall, auditorium, or other place of public assembly. That’s a specific, explicit preclusion,” Black said. He told the judge the church facility’s 18,000 square feet has a total capacity of 2,400, a number the church disputes. 

Avery Hill, an attorney with Liberty Counsel, cited a 2020 state law that he said extinguishes “any discriminatory restrictions on property. In this case, we are dealing with a discriminatory restriction, one that’s religiously discriminatory.”

“It’s not discriminatory unless you prove to me that it’s discriminatory,” the judge said. “Just saying that a public assembly can’t happen is not in and of itself discriminatory, correct?” The attorney agreed, but said the discrimination extends even to the parking area, which was not experiencing congestion. 

For Roderick, the lawsuit is just one of three civil suits in which he is a named defendant, all filed in the last eight months. 

In late February, American Express National Bank sued him and Business Suites Corporation over a debt of $327,920 on which financing payments have allegedly stopped. Business Suites Corporation is registered to Zander Burger, a Palmer associate of Palmer’s. 

On April 15, Palmer, Burger and Business Suites Corporation were named defendants in a foreclosure suit over a Sea Colony property at 28 Sea Vista Drive, Palm Coast, over a $1 million loan whose interest payments of $10,000 a month were to start on Aug. 1, 2023. According to the lawsuit, there were no payments in January and February, promoting a notice by Fred Rebarber, who issued the loan, that he would sue for foreclosure.