Rejected by Moon Township, megachurch eyes worship site in Hopewell Industrial Park

A controversial megachurch’s request for a permit to operate on a 35-acre parcel on Coraopolis Heights Road has been denied by Moon Township supervisors.

But it appears Revival Today Inc. isn’t giving up on its attempts to hold weekly services and other events for its congregation.

Instead, the church, which generated major noise complaints from its neighbors, appears to be moving about eight miles up the road to Hopewell Township.

According to John Bates, the Hopewell Township zoning officer, Revival Today has submitted a building permit application to utilize a 52,020-square-foot building in the Hopewell Industrial Park as a place of worship.

The church does not need any special permitting because township supervisors in October – at Revival Today’s request – approved an amendment to the township’s zoning ordinance that allows “place of assembly” as a permitted use within the industrial park.

The church originally sought the OK to conduct services in the industrial park building, which sits on 6.3 acres, but it wasn’t permitted under the existing zoning regulations. That resulted in the zoning ordinance amendment, which was approved Oct. 27.

Bates said the township is reviewing a permit application for some interior remodeling and utility work that the church wants to complete. But no further permitting would be required.

Bates said at some point, the church will start using the building for its permitted intended uses – offices, warehousing, printing, publishing, hosting seminars and as a place of assembly.

The zoning ordinance amendment states that all activities associated with a place of assembly shall occur inside a fully enclosed and permanent building or principal structure “in accordance with applicable capacity, health, accessibility, safety, noise, zoning and building code restrictions.”

That permanent building would be the 52,020-square-foot building at 400 Corporation Drive.

Revival Today’s conditional use and major land development applications that went before Moon Township supervisors on Dec. 15 called for a 15,680-square-foot tent to be erected on the Coraopolis Heights Road property, which formerly housed the Baywood Conference and Lodging Center.

The church’s conditional use application stated the property would be used “as a church for the observation and practice of the Christian religion, including, without limitation, outdoor Sunday worship services in the Tent together with all related activities customarily associated with the operation of a Place of Worship.”

An entity known as Moses Land LLC bought that property and has leased it to the church for a base rent of $1 per year. The three-year lease runs through May 2, 2027. Patricia S. Snyder, president of Moses Land, LLC, is listed as the landlord and Jonathan D. Shuttlesworth, president of Revival Today, Inc., is listed as the tenant.

Moon’s Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Dec. 15 to deny both the conditional use and major land development applications. Revival Today can appeal one or both decisions to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court within 45 days of the board’s action.

It’s not known whether the church plans to file an appeal; calls and emails to the church office were not returned in the days following the supervisors’ vote.

Bates said the Hopewell Industrial Park property is “kind of by itself.” He said there are some homes nearby but he added that a “pretty good buffer” exists between those homes and the building at 400 Corporation Drive.

“The main point of the (zoning) amendment is that everything has to be done inside,” Bates said of any assembly activities that would occur on the property. “There shouldn’t be any disturbance.”

That would run counter to what a number of Moon Township residents told township officials they experienced once Revival Today began holding services in a makeshift tent on Coraopolis Heights Road in the middle of 2024.

During the course of several public hearings, residents complained about safety and traffic concerns but it was the noise issues associated with the church’s activities that were the main concern.

That’s the concern that Richard Zollinger expressed at more than one public meeting, including the one on Dec. 15. Zollinger said the day after the meeting that he and his son, who lives next door, were rattled by noise problems when the church was holding services on Coraopolis Heights Road.

A Common Pleas Court judge issued a preliminary injunction last December that prohibited Revival Today from conducting services on that property until the church obtained the necessary permits from the township. Since then, the church – which according to its YouTube.com page was launched in 2021 with sites in multiple cities — has been holding local services at a building on Patton Drive.

Zollinger said he lives less than a quarter of a mile from the Coraopolis Heights Road property and found the noise emanating from the church services to be “really annoying.” Equally annoying, he said, was the church’s seeming “lack of interest in following the rules.”

“I think they could have perhaps had a successful outcome if they went in following the rules of the township regarding the noise issues,” he said.

Harry Readshaw, another neighbor who urged the township to deny the church’s use permit and subdivision applications, said the board made the right decision in issuing the dual denials.

“I would have preferred the applicant had worked better with the community and the neighbors,” Readshaw said. “But since they didn’t, I’m very pleased with the result.”

Nedra Tucceri, another neighbor who was opposed to the church obtaining its necessary permits, called the denials “fantastic news.”

“I can hear (the noise) with my windows closed and the TV on,” she said. “Our (neighborhood) is extremely grateful.”

Readshaw said he lives half a mile from the Coraopolis Heights Road property and his house would shake during the church services that took place prior to the issuance of the preliminary injunction.

“I used to live in the city and some of the neighborhood kids would have cars with giant (speakers) that would rattle our windows,” he said. “When I first heard it here, I looked out the front door to see which neighborhood kid had a new car, but I didn’t see any cars in the driveway that were playing music.

“I couldn’t figure it out. The noise continued and continued, so I went outside and looked around, and I realized it was coming from the back of the house through the woods. It was just a completely unnecessary amount of noise.”

Readshaw said he reached out to Revival Today four or five times via email but never received even an acknowledgement.

“No one reached out to give me any assurances,” he said. “All they had to do was ask if they could come over to my house and hear what I was hearing – and then turn (the noise) down so I couldn’t hear it anymore. But they never reached out, which is not what you would expect from someone who wanted to be a good neighbor.”

A consulting engineer who on behalf of the township reviewed Revival Today’s plans to address noise and sound issues said that, based on well-established noise control engineering principles, “none of these steps will produce a community noise reduction.”

David Bachman, chair of the Board of Supervisors, said the board’s vote reflects the sentiments of the community but that wasn’t the reason he voted against the measures.

“I don’t know if anyone in the community spoke in favor of (Revival Today) in all the hearings we held,” he said. “But first and foremost, (Revival Today) didn’t meet the criteria for a conditional use permit. That’s the essence of this – they didn’t meet the criteria.”

Bachman wouldn’t identify specific conditions the church failed to meet because he said Revival Today does have the opportunity to appeal the board’s decision and he didn’t want to impact that process.

“I’ll just say that it’s our opinion that they met some conditions and did not meet others,” he said.

Bachman said he believes the township followed the proper procedures in evaluating the church’s materials, which amounted to thousands of pages, and its application – a process that has been ongoing for more than a year.

“I think we had a very fair and forthright, open-minded hearing for them,” he said. “We allowed them to present whatever they wanted. And we heard them. We asked a lot of questions. And we heard from our constituents.”