Cochise Stronghold monastery opposed
COCHISE STRONGHOLD, AZ, July 4, 2002 (ADS) — A planned Greek Orthodox monastery here has caused an outcry from critics who say it will mar the gateway to a sacred area where the Chiricahua Apaches once found refuge.
Both sides are arguing spiritual interests in the debate, which is focusing on the height of the monastery’s church. The church is expected to exceed the three-story limit set out in local zoning regulations.
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors is expected to decide the matter, though the issue could also wind up in court.
On one side of the debate are Greek Orthodox monks who own 481 acres just outside the eastern side of Cochise Stronghold, in the Dragoon Mountains about 70 miles southeast of Tucson. The monks want to build several structures, including a church with a bell tower and a cross on a hill below a popular rock formation.
”The stronghold is huge and this is private property. The Indians had all of Arizona at one time and it was spiritual to all of them, but it didn’t stop Arizona from getting built,” said Father Nektarios ”Nick” Arvanitakis, who is acting as a spokesman for the Dormition of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Monastery. The denomination also has a monastery 10 miles south of Florence.
On the other side of the debate are residents and others – among them Apache Indians – who say anything higher than 30 feet or three stories will be a blight on a spiritual area whose granite mountains once served as a natural fortress for Chiricahua Apache leader Cochise and his people. Cochise is buried somewhere inside the stronghold, which is a blend of public and private property, though the exact location of his grave is unknown.
”It’s a very special place. A lot of people who come here feel remarkably cured of their problems. A lot of people feel solace here,” said Eve Searle, co-owner of the nearby Grapevine Canyon Ranch.
The church could stand as high as 60 feet in an area zoned for height limits of 30 feet. The bell tower and spires could reach as high as 80 feet. The zoning code exempts church spires and bell towers from any height restriction. The monks say the church won’t look like a six-story high-rise; rather it will be more like a two-story building with a large dome on top of it.
The Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission in May granted the monastery a modification for the height of the church and conditionally approved the project, saying final approval is subject to a continual review of the plans since the monastery did not provide a detailed site plan.
Opponents of the project appealed, as did the monastery, which argued that it should not have to keep submitting its plans to the county. Now the case is scheduled to go before the Cochise County Board of Supervisors, which will hold a public hearing Aug. 6.
Searle, whose ranch is destination for tourists from around the world, said many guests are drawn to the stronghold’s historic value.
Cochise Stronghold was the hideout of the Chiricahua Apaches when they were pursued by the U.S. Cavalry. In addition to its historical interest, the stronghold is a popular recreation area. The monastery land is below a rock formation known as Rockfellow Dome.
Initially a monastery near the stronghold sounded like a benign neighbor to residents like Searle, who has owned the 90-acre Grapevine Canyon Ranch, along with her husband, Gerry, for 22 years.
But when Searle and Karen Weilacher, who owns 3.75 acres inside the stronghold, discovered that the monastery could be twice as high as what’s allowed by the zoning law, they decided to take action. They began circulating fliers and within two weeks had the support of 20 people in a group they call the Dragoon Mountains Defense Committee. They’ve also started a defense fund in case of a legal battle.
”The first time I came here I was overwhelmed by the beauty and majesty and sense of holiness here. I began making yearly pilgrimages. I’d come to renew my spirit,” said Weilacher, who began coming to the stronghold when she was a student at the University of Arizona in 1976. She bought her property in 1985.
”At the height they are proposing for the monastery, the whole view is totally manipulated and destroyed.”
Weilacher now works in Los Angeles but considers her house in the stronghold as home and lives there part-time.
Bill Craft of Sunsites Engineering & Surveying, who is working for the monks and has represented them in the planning process, is baffled by the critics. He says the monks’ $10 million construction project will infuse much-needed commerce into the area. Craft said the monks paid a local family $1.5 million for the property in February 2001.
The monastery complex will include a residence for the monks, a visitors’ center with a small bookstore, orchards, gardens, a church and possibly other structures, he said.
”Under the residential zoning for that property, we could have 120 homes out there. It could be a pink sea of homes, and that’s not what we’re doing,” he said. ”Seems like some bought their little piece of heaven and now feel like no one else can come here.”
Sunsites is a nearby town of about 2,000 people that began as a retirement community in the 1960s. On a recent drive through the area, Craft pointed out five churches of various denominations to show that a monastery fits in well in a community that is apparently well-populated with churchgoers. He noted that backers of the project collected 40 signatures in support of the monastery at a meeting earlier this year.
The 490 members of the Fort Sill Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache Tribe in Oklahoma recently learned about the project and based on what they know so far, they are opposing it, Vice Chairman Lupe Gooday said. Tribal members are direct descendants of the Chiricahua Apache.
Much of southeastern Arizona was Chiricahua Apache territory until 1886, when Geronimo and his beleaguered band of men, women and children surrendered to the U.S. Army.
The tribe in 1989 gained back 4 acres from a landowner and though none of its members lives there, they use it for spiritual occasions and consider the area the tribe’s spiritual home.
Cochise County planner Daniel Coxworth said it may be difficult to force the monks to stay within the 30-foot limit because of the 2000 federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits any zoning that imposes a ”substantial burden” on religious exercise without a compelling government interest.
The federal law has posed a problem for planning commissions around the country, said Jim Schwab, a senior research associate for the American Planning Association in Chicago.
New York-based attorney Marci Hamilton, a national expert in church-state issues, said religious organizations are using the federal law as a powerful weapon to build structures that exceed local building regulations and zoning laws. Hamilton said there’s no clear-cut case law that local governments can use as a guideline, but she predicts one of the cases will eventually go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Both sides in the monastery dispute have hired lawyers.
As for the monks, Father Nick said his group finds the area just as spiritual as do those opposing the monastery.
”People are mad that a high-rise is going up and that’s just not the case. I think we’re really good neighbors. You can’t get more quiet than us,” he said. ”It’s a place that felt right for us. We like that area. . . . If God wants it built there, it will get built there.”
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Hearing is Aug. 6
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider whether to approve construction plans for the Dormition of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Monastery, on 481 acres just below Rockfellow Dome in the Cochise Stronghold area, on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at its regular meeting. The meeting begins at 2 p.m. at 1415 W. Melody Lane, Building B, in Bisbee.
Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or at sinnes@azstarnet.com.