Here is yet another example of AA/NA groups being a public nuisance! This is a growing nationwide problem. The churches need to be held accountable as well as they are renting to groups without the proper zoning permits and are puttting their congregation in danger.
This is the Fort Sherman Chapel Group,District Area 92AA located in Washington State causing numerous problems for the neighborhood.
A Fortgrounds attorney wants Alcoholics Anonymous to keep it down.
Out of frustration with a local AA group’s raucous gatherings, Edward W. Kok has filed legal action against the Washington State District Area 92 AA, Fort Sherman Chapel Group and unnamed AA members.
Kok (pronounced like Coke), who lives on Forest Drive, says his quality of life has been thwarted by the hubbub of AA meetings across the street at Fort Sherman Chapel.
“The actions of the defendants are offensive to the senses, are an obstruction to the free use of plaintiff’s property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property,” Kok wrote in a legal complaint filed in district court on Sept. 8.
Kok is representing himself.
The 53-year-old alleges that members of the group – who meet at the chapel every day at 8 a.m. and also Mondays at 5 p.m. – converse loudly before and after meetings.
“…The sound is as though the AA members are meeting in the plaintiff’s front yard,” the legal complaint reads.
Sometimes loud motors and conversation starts long before 7 a.m. and goes as late as 9 p.m., the document reads. Individuals’ cars have also blocked spaces for residents in the area.
It’s a public nuisance, according to Kok.
He also alleges that the group’s meetings are unlawful, as the gatherings take place without a special use permit required for religious organization or community meetings.
That means the Museum of North Idaho is at fault, as well, Kok reports, as the nonprofit corporation owns and operates the Fort Sherman Chapel.
“The defendant museum and perhaps AA as well knew or should have known” about the group’s use of the structure for years, the legal complaint states.
Efforts to find an individual claiming authority for the AA group have been futile, Kok wrote in his complaint.
As he hasn’t been able to track down members, his legal action labels those defendants as John and Jane Does 1-100.
Kok is requesting a judge to enjoin the museum from allowing AA further use of the chapel.
He is also asking for $7,500 in attorney’s fees, though he wouldn’t say if he plans to bring another attorney on board.
“I’m committed to seeing this through to some satisfactory solution,” Kok said on Wednesday.
Individual members of the chapel AA group either couldn’t be reached, or preferred to retain anonymity and not be quoted.
http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_6b35040b-2186-5cc8-8cbe-9b6bbc3d83ad.html