CLAREMONT, Calif.--The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) has come to the aid of more churches battling for space to worship.
According to Agape Press, the City of Claremont officials reversed their decision to deny a church's request for a conditional use permit after discovering that the RLUIPA, passed by Congress in 2000, ensures that zoning laws cannot be used to discriminate against churches or to stop church growth.
The City of Claremont also will amend the municipal code and zoning ordinances that were adopted long before the RLUIPA.
"Many churches, in fact, are in a similar situation of having these old policies that are hostile and discriminatory against churches," said Brad Dacus of The Pacific Justice Institute.
He said many cities are not aware of the increased freedom given to churches by the federal law.
Two small Orthodox Jewish congregations won a federal court battle to continue worshiping in space rented above a Surfside, Fla., bank. According to The Miami Herald, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Surfside violated the religious liberties of the congregations when it barred them from holding prayer services within the town's two-block business district.
"Today, the court sent a strong message that the right to worship is a civil right, and that zoning laws cannot be used to discriminate against churches, synagogues and other houses of worship," said Assistant Attorney General Alexander Acosta, who argued the case.
The court's decision was the first time a house of worship has won a federal appeal based on the RLUIPA.
Another zoning battle heating up in Denville, N.J. may test the law further. There a small community is facing off against a mega-church.
According to the Daily Record, a planning consultant for a local group opposed to the Christ Church building plan testified at a planning board hearing for the Rockaway Township.
Christ Church's attorney, Wendy Berger, brought the RLUIPA to the table, saying that the federal law does not distinguish between large and small religious institutions. Berger also noted that the township's ordinance, which defines churches as a conditional use, does not say anything about size.
Christ Church, which has 5,000 members, wants to build a 3,000-seat sanctuary, a private K-5 school and other facilities at the 107-acre site.
Christ Church's pastor, David Ireland, said the debate over church size was a "stall tactic" with no relevance under local or federal law.
Emily Kullmann, a township resident since 1994, explained her opposition to the church plan. "Rockaway Township is made up of many small communities. We don't feel like being invaded by Christ Church. If it was something all the residents of the township wanted, fine. But there's 20,000 of us and 5,000 of them. It's not fair to our semi-rural lake community."
