It’s David vs. Goliath, appropriately enough.

The battle between The Temple Club, which is a former church, and the Christian Family Fellowship, which is still a church. The Temple Club, a new nightclub in Old Town, won Round One when Lansing City Council voted 7-1 in August to grant the club a liquor license.

But David’s slingshot hit its mark in the next step of the process. It told to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission that it opposed granting the license. By law, the commission had to deny the license application because the club is too close to a church. Now the club has 20 days to appeal, which its owner, Diane Burns, is doing, probably by Oct. 10.

The church’s landlord has tried to settle the dispute, but apparently unsuccessfully.
James Keck, who owns the building, said he offered to let the 50-member, non-denominational church out of its lease, which has six months to run, if the church would move.

Keck’s efforts sounded promising to city officials. Word spread around City Hall Monday that the dispute was on its way to being resolved.
But Keck said the pastor, Tony Lenoir, then decided he was going to stand his ground. Keck expressed disappointment. "I want to see (the club) succeed because it will improve property values."
Club developer Burns wouldn’t comment, and the pastor would say only, "We’re just here trying to do the work of the Lord."

An associate of Lenoir’s, the Rev. Darren Davis, said that the church fears that The Temple Club will attract prostitution and drug trafficking.

"When the church first got here (in March)," he said, "there was a prostitution ring and a very heavy drug trafficking culture." He said they have been "busted up" since the church arrived.
"We’re just concerned that this area will revert back, maybe to a worse degree than what it was," Davis said.

Lansing City Councilman Harold Leeman Jr., whose 1st Ward District includes the club and the church, said he recalls the police had a problem with drugs and prostitution with several residents in the neighborhood, but he said he understood they had moved. Leeman sides with The Temple Club. He voted for its liquor license.

"Diane has standing," Leeman said. "There is a difference between that kind of church and other churches that are more stable in a community. That church just showed up how many months ago? It’s not like the church as a large building with a large congregation and that has been there many years."
Leeman is also concerned about the effect the Liquor Control Board’s decision will have on other developers.

"That’s sending a chill -- a church with 50 people that shows up six months ago can send a developer down the drain," he said.
Regardless of what the Liquor Control Commission decides, the church may find itself out on the street, although not immediately. The church opened without the special-use permit it needed, which came to light as a result of the controversy. The church filed its application with the city last week. Now the city has to determine if the church has adequate parking and meets other zoning requirements. The process takes 90 t0 120 days.