PITTSBURGH – A man who says that rock, funk and jazz concerts held on his property are religious services has taken his case to federal court, claiming that county zoning officials violated his constitutional religious freedoms.
William Pritts says the concerts are an integral part of his Church of Universal Love and Music. He has been battling Fayette County’s zoning board over the concerts he began holding in 2002 on his 147-acre spread in Bullskin Township, about 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
In 2004, the state Commonwealth Court ruled that the county could fine Pritts for holding the concerts in violation of county zoning rules.
Last year, a county judge crafted a compromise that let Pritts hold two concerts in defiance of the 2004 ruling. But the judge also fined Pritts $2,500 for holding two other concerts and issued a moratorium on future concerts, which Pritts has since followed.
Pritts filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on Friday in which he said that the zoning board is violating his freedoms of religion and association by denying a special-use permit for the concerts.
"A core belief of the Church of Universal Love and Music is that religious inspiration and community are advanced by the celebration of live music," Pritts said in the lawsuit.
County officials counter that Pritts never claimed to have a church until after they rejected his application for a permit to operate as a commercial recreation facility years ago.
Church use is permitted on Pritts’ land, but the zoning officials rejected Pritts’ application saying his activities were not those of a church or religious organization.
The concerts were held up to eight times each summer and some featured nationally known acts like funk star George Clinton. Pritts charged admission to hundreds of people who attended some of the multi-day events, though he said church members or other sponsors picked up the bill at some later concerts.
Neighbors complained of noise and traffic and officials worried about illegal drug use among concert-goers.
Dennis Nurkiewicz, a former zoning board member named in the lawsuit, said the board sought evidence of "dogma, religious practices and charitable" acts by Pritts group, but found none.
While it is apparent that this guy is gaming the system seeking evidence of dogma in modern Church will affect the zoning of lots of liberal churches.
9 comments
Church of Universal Love and Music?
LMAO!
I’m ignorant on commercial zoning versus religious celebration permit issues and why they’re done, but off the top of my head I should think this fellow should want to be honestly compliant for his own protection. When someone gets hurt at one of his “religious celebrations,” how does that lawsuit go down? Against his home owner’s insurance?
I am a member of the Church of Universal Love and Music, and I can reassure all those who do not believe in our practices, that we practice love, peace and tranquility. That is our religion. Uniting a community in Music Festivals is a way of practicing for us all. I think everyone should try and do the same, and perhaps the world will slowly start to become a better place. Love to all!
I live close to this place, and let me just say this… I’ve never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no “religious activities”, just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the “spring-fests” and “fall-fests” held at the adelaide campground called “River’s Edge”. Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The “workers” at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
I live close to this place, and let me just say this… I’ve never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no “religious activities”, just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the “spring-fests” and “fall-fests” held at the adelaide campground called “River’s Edge”. Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The “workers” at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
I live close to this place, and let me just say this… I’ve never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no “religious activities”, just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the “spring-fests” and “fall-fests” held at the adelaide campground called “River’s Edge”. Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The “workers” at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
I live close to this place, and let me just say this… I’ve never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no “religious activities”, just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the “spring-fests” and “fall-fests” held at the adelaide campground called “River’s Edge”. Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The “workers” at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
I live close to this place, and let me just say this… I’ve never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no “religious activities”, just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the “spring-fests” and “fall-fests” held at the adelaide campground called “River’s Edge”. Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The “workers” at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
This Church of Love and Musice is more like the Church of Drugs. I have personally attended on of these so called services at this “church” and can assure everyone that there is no worship services or worship of anything but LSD and drugs happening anywhere from what i’ve seen. I’ve seen little kids no more than 3 or 4 running around 3:00AM all by themselves with no supervision and hundreds of drunk and “tripping” people everywhere, parents no where to be found…That’s sad. I beg that all people petition against this “Church” This place is nothing more than a drug convention full of mushrooms, LSD, and every other kind of drug you can imagine. It’s congregations like this one that pollute our young children. For them to claim they are praising God and operate as a “church” is a discrace to God and the Bible. We must shut places like this down for the safety and well being of our children. Please help the efforts by writing to you local rep expressing the need to close the doors on drug communes like this.