Community's frustration growing in Moon Township over Revival Today Church
MOON TOWNSHIP, PA. (KDKA) - A church in Moon Township has been at odds with people who live nearby for allegedly ignoring the township's noise ordinances, and the frustration is continuing to grow.
"It's supposed to be a nice, quiet neighborhood," said Shane Tyra, a resident in the area.
When Tyra recently bought a house in Moon Township in the Woodland Ridge neighborhood, he said to KDKA that it was going to be his family's forever home.
However, when Revival Today Church took over his peaceful Sundays with its outdoor services starting at 6:30 a.m., that began to change.
"It could be drums. It could be a band. It could be yelling and speaking in tongues. Just any number of things," he said. "It's noise level that nobody else could get away with."
Despite constant complaints from neighbors to the Moon Township police department and township leaders, Tyra said nobody is enforcing the laws.
Those concerns were exasperated when a judge denied an injunction to stop the church from continuing a week-long festival on the 34-acre property along Coraopolis Heights Road. In response to the judge's decision, township supervisors announced the church would have to apply for a "place of worship" permit to continue holding Sunday services.
"The way we have to enforce things runs a little slow. They've applied for certain permits and we're reviewing those in the normal process like we do everyone else," said Albert Quaye, a Moon Township supervisor.
Neighbors, including Tyra, are pleased to know Moon Township is pursuing action against the church, but question why they're still allowed to conduct business without the necessary permits.
"The biggest issue is that the church has deep pockets and some backing of some wealthy families as well. So, that can be a troubling thing to fight against," Tyra added.
Quaye emphatically denies that claim. While he said he can't comment on what's going on behind the scenes, he says the job of the municipal government is to protect the community and even though it's slow going, that's what is happening.
"There is absolutely no credence to the fact that they have money they're getting any special privileges," Quaye said. "They've donated nothing to the township. They've donated nothing to us of course. We would love for this problem to go away."
Moon Township is planning more public hearings in an effort to find a solution that please everyone involved.