The city is forcing several Jacksonville churches to shut down after the fire marshal found major safety issues during the annual inspection.
Pastor Ronnie Cohen from Bethesda Faith Assembly is still cleaning out his church after getting a cease and desist letter last summer, when the fire marshal found major life safety issues at his church.
"Well we knew all these things and we didn't know we would have to shut down completely," Cohen said.
And that is just one of three churches forced to shut down within the year.
The violations range from improper electrical wiring to structure integrity issues.
To repair every code violation, Cohen said it would cost tens of thousands of dollars.
"It’s like you're putting your hands tied and saying well because we don't have the congregation or the money, it damages the people we've been having," Cohen said.
Rick Roberts said he went to All Things Restored, which also closed.
"It just seems like it's a form of persecution," Roberts said.
And he thinks the city should allow the churches to do the repairs in phases.
"I would hope the city could work with them. A lot of the small churches are just barely keeping their doors open," Roberts said.
The annual inspections for fire risk began five years ago.
Jacksonville's fire rescue chief said they only shut down about 15 nonresidential structures per year out of the nearly 26,000 that are inspected.
Cox Media Group
