OAKLAND PARK, Fla. -- The battle between church and state has come to a street corner in Oakland Park, where a church faces possible fines for erecting a concrete statue of Jesus that may impair the sightline of drivers at the intersection.

But the pastor of All Saints Catholic Mission questioned the timing of the zoning code violation Monday, since the statue has been standing at the corner of Powerline Road and Northwest 35th Street for 14 years, WPLG-TV in Miami reported.

Rev. Bob Caudill is convinced city officials, who tried but failed to close the soup kitchen he runs on the block, are looking for other ways to make him stop the public feedings.

The city and the police department have responded to dozens of complaint calls from neighbors over the last few months.

Judith Tavory, who has owned the property next to the church for more than 30 years, said the wall of her building is covered with graffiti and obscene words. She said vagrants sleep under her bedroom window.

“Maybe he thinks he's doing something good,” Tavory said regarding Caudill's efforts to feed the homeless. “But it's a neighborhood with children. It's not a place for a soup kitchen.”

But the church’s zoning makes the soup kitchen legal.

“It is church property. Religion, hopefully, by its definition, is something that helps other people,” Caudill said.

Nonetheless, he plans to move the statue of Jesus to comply with city code and to avoid the fine.