JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A pastor said he and his members are forced to stop having church in a building after a fire marshal told them the property is not up to code.
He said the property owner told them everything was OK.
"I would've never moved into this building knowing what I know now. If I would've known then, I would've never moved here," Pastor Terrell Butler said. "That's a waste of my time, the people's time, waste of monies."
Butler said he has been paying his landlord at Cornerstone Plaza at Lem Turner Road and Lake Forest Boulevard $800 every month for nearly five years, only to find out that he was never supposed to be allowed in the building because it's out of code compliance. Now, the church will have to find somewhere else to go.
Butler and his members were shocked to discover the building is not up to code and they should've never been allowed in by the owners.
Just off the busy street of Lem Turner sits the Cornerstone Plaza. Inside is a restaurant, laundromat and the church, Word Church Full Gospel.
Butler pastors at the church and was surprised when a fire marshal arrived.
"We had a fire marshal show up Sunday. He came in the building and he said, 'Listen, I have to shut you guys down because there's no permits for this building, and this building is not even used for a church anymore,'" Butler said.
According to documents from Jacksonville's Fire and Rescue, Division Chief Fire Marshal Kevin Jones sent a letter to Butler's wife this past Monday, saying, "The space that you and your husband are currently leasing and utilizing as a church (Assembly Occupancy) does not meet the minimum life safety requirements required under the building and fire codes."
According to the city, it's the landlord's responsibility.
Butler wants answers.
"What are the questions you have for the owners of this building?" News4Jax's Jenese Harris asked Butler.
"Why did you even give me this building? Why did you say that this building was OK? Why did you let me sign a lease year after year, knowing that this building wasn't up to code?" Butler asked.
News4Jax went to Atlantic Beach. Management for the building is there, but when we arrived, the doors were locked. A woman came to the door and turned away. At one point, someone walked up to a window and waved, but didn't come outside.
According to the Duval County property appraiser, the Cornerstone Plaza is owned by Ossi Klotz LLC, the same company that locked its doors and wouldn't talk with News4Jax.
But this isn't the first time the fire marshal has warned property owners about building code violations.
In 2018, the fire marshal told the pastor the building was out of code. Butler said that's when the property manager promised the building was grandfathered into old standards because it was built in 1953.
Then the pastor got an attorney.
"What did the owners of this building tell you?" Harris asked.
"They said, 'We are going to take care of it. Everything is grandfathered in. We are going out to the city. We are going to send them our paperwork,'" Butler said.
Butler said they have stayed in the building and continued paying rent since. Now, they will have to find somewhere else to go.
"Where are we going to go? Where are our churches going to assemble at? Where are we going to worship God at?" Butler asked.
Butler said he encourages anyone who is moving into a building to make sure everything is up to code.
News4Jax is still waiting to hear from Ossi-Klotz LLC. So far, they have not returned phone calls, but the city confirmed the property owners need to fix several issues with the building.