The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened in a case involving a city’s use of zoning ordinances to stop the expansion of a church congregation.
Photo via Google Photos @Hope Rising Church
On March 3, the Justice Department section for the Western District of Pennsylvania filed a statement of interest supporting the Hope Rising Community Church in its lawsuit against the Borough of Clarion.
The church has outgrown its current facilities and wants to expand using a facility in the city’s commercial district. While Clarion allows nonreligious assemblies in the commercial district, such as theaters, the city would not approve the church’s zoning use variance request. Officials from the city allegedly said they didn’t “need any more churches” because of the loss of property taxes.
Hope Rising Community Church filed its lawsuit in November alleging the city was violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that protects houses of worship from discrimination in zoning.
When Clarion filed a motion to dismiss the church’s claim, the Justice Department intervened.
While the city argued the church had not suffered any concrete injury as a result of Clarion’s actions, the DOJ argued that the city’s zoning code has “stymied [the church’s] efforts to buy and develop the only suitable property for the church in Clarion.”
If the court issued an injunction against the city’s application of the zoning ordinances, it would “substantially increase the likelihood that the church can develop the property.”
“Zoning codes that prohibit religious uses while permitting comparable secular uses violate RLUIPA. Central to the Civil Rights Division’s mission is combatting religious discrimination and ensuring that houses of worship receive equal treatment under the law. We will continue to protect the foundational right of all Americans to religious freedom,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mac Warner of the Civil Rights Division in a press release.
In March 2024, Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division wrote a letter to state, county, and municipal officials reminding them of their obligations under RLUIPA and the department’s commitment to enforcing the law.
Based on its own investigations, Clarke said the DOJ had discovered “there are still many municipal, county, and other local officials who are insufficiently familiar with the land use provisions of RLUIPA and with their obligations under this important federal civil rights law.”
As of March 2024, the DOJ had opened over 155 formal investigations and filed nearly 30 lawsuits related to RLUIPA’s land use provisions, and had filed 36 “friend-of-the-court” briefs addressing the interpretation and application of RLUIPA in privately-filed lawsuits.
MinistryWatch has reported on several zoning cases involving churches and other Christian ministries. Read more here.
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