Plaintiff, New Life Evangelistic Center, Inc., (“New Life”), an interdenominational Christian Church formed in 1972 by Reverend Larry Rice, recently sued the City of St. Louis, Missouri (the “City”) in the Eastern District of Missouri. According to the complaint, New Life operated out of a 50-foot trailer in the early 1970’s, rapidly grew, and then purchased a five-story YMCA building in 1975. By 1976, the Church received a hotel permit, authorizing 32 beds, and began offering religious services and emergency shelter for the homeless. Presently, New Life provides shelter to approximately 250, sometimes reaching 300, individuals a night. Its sheltering programs include 14-day or 30-day basic shelter, a 30-day transitional housing program, a 90-day program for women and veterans, as well as a two-year “leadership” program for individuals who volunteer full-time at New Life in exchange for free room and board.

New Life’s claims are based on a December 23, 2014 decision by the City’s Board of Public Service (“BPS”) that New Life constitutes a “detriment to the neighborhood.” BPS later issued an order stating that New Life’s hotel permit will be revoked on May 12, 2015 if New Life does not demonstrate, 30-days prior to that date, that it has reduced occupancy to 32 beds or has received all necessary permits and licenses to operate a larger facility. The City’s actions were prompted by a petition it received pursuant to Chapter 11.72.010 of the St. Louis revised Code, under which a majority of residents within 300 feet of a boarding house, rooming house, dormitory, or hotel may petition BPS to find the property is a “detriment to the neighborhood.”

In its complaint, New Life challenges BPS’s finding that its witnesses at the public hearing conducted by BPS “were not credible.” It also seems to make an estoppel or waiver argument claiming that the City knew, since 1976, that New Life operated an emergency shelter substantially larger than 32 beds and considered at least 28 plumbing, electrical, and building permits submitted by New Life in 1993. Yet, the City did not, it alleges, in 1993 or at any other time, raise any issue about the number of occupants at the shelter. In Count I of its complaint, New Life alleges that BPS’s decision violated RLUIPA’s substantial burden provision. It also claims violations of the Missouri and the United States Constitutions (freedom of speech, assembly, and free exercise) as well as violation of the Missouri Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

New Life also seeks a preliminary injunction to allow it to continue to operate its homeless shelter during the litigation. In its memorandum of law in support of its motion, New Life argues that turning away the homeless from its shelter would only make the issues raised by residents worse because some of those individuals may now seek shelter on the streets. It also contends that the City has many alternative means to address the purported “nuisance” conditions, including heightened enforcement of municipal noise and loitering codes. This argument has particular bite after the Supreme Court’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, where the Court considered RFRA, RLUIPA’s sister statute, addressing the least restrictive means standard applied to a substantial burden imposed in attempting to further a compelling governmental interest.

Although the Supreme Court has thus far refused to consider RLUIPA’s substantial burden provision in the land use context, it is clear that litigants have gleaned guidance from the Court’s RFRA and prisoner cases. As noted in our recent post concerning the Harbor Missionary Church case, the Ninth Circuit is positioned to soon rule on the potential impact of Hobby Lobby in the land use context. It has not taken long for RLUIPA plaintiffs to push for a favorable reading of both Hobby Lobby and Holt v. Hobbs, particularly when a local government must justify its actions with a compelling interest advanced in the least restrictive means based on the particular context of a given case. Local governments may wish to keep a close watch on this case and Harbor Missionary Church to see how, if at all, these courts interpret the Supreme Court’s observation in Hobby Lobby that the onus may be on the government to spend more money and go above and beyond to reduce potential burdens on religious applicants so as to demonstrate that government has indeed used the least restrictive means.

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Photo of Dwight Merriam Dwight Merriam

Dwight H. Merriam founded Robinson+Cole’s Land Use Group in 1978. He represents land owners, developers, governments and individuals in land use matters, with a focus on defending governments in RLUIPA cases. Dwight is a Fellow and Past President of the American Institute of…

Dwight H. Merriam founded Robinson+Cole’s Land Use Group in 1978. He represents land owners, developers, governments and individuals in land use matters, with a focus on defending governments in RLUIPA cases. Dwight is a Fellow and Past President of the American Institute of Certified Planners, a former Director of the American Planning Association (APA), a former chair of APA’s Planning and Law Division, Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of State and Local Government Law, Chair of the Institute of Local Government Studies at the Center for American and International Law, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute National Advisory Board, a Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, a Counselor of Real Estate, a member of the Anglo-American Real Property Institute, and a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

He teaches land use law at the University of Connecticut School of Law and at Vermont Law School and has published over 200 articles and eight books, including Inclusionary Zoning Moves Downtown, The Takings Issue, The Complete Guide to Zoning, and Eminent Domain Use and Abuse: Kelo in Context. He is the senior co-author of the leading casebook on land use law, Planning and Control of Land Development (Eighth Edition). Dwight has written and spoken widely on how to avoid RLUIPA claims and how to successfully defend against them in court. He is currently writing a book on the subject, RLUIPA DEFENSE, for the American Bar Association.

Dwight has been named to the Connecticut Super Lawyers® list in the area of Land Use Law since 2006, is one of the Top 50 Connecticut Super Lawyers in Connecticut, and is one of the Top 100 New England Super Lawyers (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.). He received his B.A. (cum laude) from the University of Massachusetts, his Masters of Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina, where he was the graduation speaker in 2011, and his J.D. from Yale. He is a featured speaker at many land use seminars, and presents monthly audio land use seminars for the International Municipal Lawyers Association. Dwight has been cited in the national press from The New York Times to People magazine and has appeared on NBC’s The Today Show, MSNBC and public television.

Dwight also had a career in the Navy, serving for three tours in Vietnam aboard ship, then returning to be the Senior Advisor of the Naval ROTC Unit at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where he taught Defense Administration and Military Management as an Assistant Professor in the undergraduate and graduate curriculum in Defense Administration and Military Management. He left active duty after seven years to attend law school, but continued on for 24 more years as a reserve Surface Warfare Officer with two major commands, including that of the reserve commanding officer of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. He retired as a Captain in 2009 after 31 years of service.

Photo of Evan Seeman Evan Seeman

Evan J. Seeman is a lawyer in Robinson+Cole’s Hartford office and focuses his practice on land use, real estate, environmental, and regulatory matters, representing local governments, developers and advocacy groups. He has spoken and written about RLUIPA, and was a lead author of…

Evan J. Seeman is a lawyer in Robinson+Cole’s Hartford office and focuses his practice on land use, real estate, environmental, and regulatory matters, representing local governments, developers and advocacy groups. He has spoken and written about RLUIPA, and was a lead author of an amicus curiae brief at the petition stage before the United States Supreme Court in a RLUIPA case entitled City of San Leandro v. International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.

Evan serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the APA’s Planning & Law Division. He also serves as the Chair of the Planning & Zoning Section of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section, and is the former Co-Chair of its Municipal Law Section. He has been named to the Connecticut Super Lawyers® list as a Rising Star in the area of Land Use Law for 2013 and 2014. He received his B.A. in political science and Russian studies (with honors) from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was selected as the President’s Fellow in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature. Evan received his Juris Doctor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he served on the Connecticut Law Review. While in law school, he interned with the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General in the environmental department, and served as a judicial intern for the judges of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court. Following law school, Evan clerked for the Honorable F. Herbert Gruendel of the Connecticut Appellate Court.