Midwest City approves church use of school parking contingent on written agreement

The Midwest City Council voted to approve a request from a Seventh-day Adventist congregation to use a nearby school parking lot, contingent on the congregation delivering a formal parking agreement to city staff.

The congregation's representative told the council the school's superintendent had not yet returned the signed agreement because of spring break but said "they apologize" and that "they have the idea of doing that" in principle. Council members noted the planning commission had conditioned its approval on having the signed agreement available at this meeting and that, from a legal standpoint, the property was not in compliance with city parking requirements without that document.

Council member (speaker 5) moved to approve and a second followed; the chair called a voice vote and the motion carried. The council asked the congregation to provide the agreement to "Mister Summers" as soon as possible. The congregation's representative said they understood that "even if by Easter, there was no agreement that we would not qualify. We fully understand that a 100%."

The council's approval preserves its authority to enforce city ordinance requirements; planning staff had flagged noncompliance with ordinance parking standards as a primary reason the planning commission required a written agreement. The council did not adopt any amendments to the ordinance and gave no special regulatory waiver beyond approving the request contingent on the agreement being filed.

Next steps: the congregation must deliver the written parking agreement to city staff for the approval to remain in effect.