Neighbors claim South Valley Community Church concert series
getting out-of-hand
Gilroy – Two teenage girls were arrested Friday night at South Valley Community Church, and neighbors say they’re tired of the drinking, kissing, cussing and smoking teens attending the church’s outreach concert series. But pastors at the church believe the two teens are not reflective of all the concert goers attending the shows and hope to find a way to keep the peace in the neighborhood.

Neighbors say that rowdy concert goers repeatedly engage in alcohol and drug use, screaming during the late night hours, and fondling each other outside the church during the concert sessions.

“It’s been a nightmare since they started having these,” said neighbor Laura, who asked that her last name remain anonymous. “Parents and guardians believe that they’re taking their kids to a Christian atmosphere, but they’re not … There’s no supervision outside the church.”

About 10pm Friday, a 15-year-old female was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance and 16-year-old female was arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace, police said. Witnesses described one of the girls as beating her head against the police car window during the tantrum.

According to church officials, the two teens would not leave the premise after they were asked to leave by on site security. They began yelling and screaming at neighbors. Church officials called police when it was apparent the situation was escalating.

“The 16-year-old was apparently trying to instigate a fight,” Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal said. “The girl was not cooperative whatsoever.”

While the church has a no tolerance policy for alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, some concert goers were denied entrance into the show for not obeying the rules. In the past, church officials have contacted police about ways to prevent these types of incidences.

“It’s like any business in town, they can’t choose the clientele,” Svardal explained. “They can’t control what condition they’ll be in when they show up. All they can do if they’re violating the rules of the church … is send them on their way … I think (the church) is trying to be responsible at what they’re doing. They’re calling us.”

The problem, according to neighbors, is when they leave the church. The high school and college age crowd wanders the streets, smoking and making out.

“They do it all the time,” said Kelton Drive resident Rose Marquez. “They’re always coming back and forth, they’re loud and they’re running in the street. Sometimes they’ll sit on the curb and start making out and stuff.”

According to Laura, while heading to her apartment’s laundry room she has stumbled across teens drinking in the bushes and smoking marijuana on her car. She believes the concert nights pose as a safety threat to the neighborhood.

“We all have small children here. What kind of message is that sending?” she asked. “There’s nothing going on 30 days out of the month except for that day and we don’t like it. I moved to this neighborhood to feel safer.”

South Valley Community Church began hosting concert nights about three years ago, said Pastor Mike Zukowski. Attendance has increased over the years and now includes kids from Morgan Hill and Hollister, he said.

The church has received previous complaints from neighbors about the concerts and responded by papering the neighborhood with contact numbers to call. The next step may be going door-to-door to find out how to the issue can be resolved, Zukowski said.

“If it comes down to it, we may have to look at another location,” he said.

Recently the church stopped allowing concert attendees to return to the performance once they left.

“We’ve had problems in the past and we worked to (rectify) them,” he said. “It’s sad that we had 600 people at the concert and three people (causing trouble.) Friday night you couldn’t tell anything else happened except for these people … unfortunately, if they would have just left it would have been great. It’s also unfortunate that our neighbors had to share the brunt of it.”

The outreach series is designed to promote an alcohol, drug, tobacco and attitude free environment for teens to learn about the church. Not all of the teens attending the concert are church members.

“Not every kid who comes wants to come because they want to listen to a Christian rock band and feel close to Christ,” explained Pastor Mark Turner. “They want to be with their friends. Not everyone is going to go out having received that message.”

Neighbors would like to see more police patrolling the area on concert nights, as well as security patrolling the outside of the church after the show to ensure that everyone leaves the area.

Turner has found it difficult communicating with some neighbors who have not left their phone numbers or full names. He is requesting that area residents with concerns or suggestions contact him at 848-2363 ext. 132.

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