Archives: Substantial Burden

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Federal Court Rejects Church’s Religious Land Use Claims Based on Government’s Legitimate Zoning Concerns

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Equal Terms, Substantial Burden
A federal court in Nevada has ruled that the denial of a church’s special use permit application to develop property with a house of worship did not violate RLUIPA’s substantial burden provision, the Equal Protection Clause, the Due Process Clause, or state law.  Significantly, this case demonstrates the bedrock principle that land use agencies may … Continue Reading

Rabbi Lacks Standing for some RLUIPA Claims, Says Federal Court

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Equal Terms, First Amendment, Nondiscrimination, Substantial Burden
A federal court in Maryland has found that a rabbi was without standing to bring claims under RLUIPA’s nondiscrimination and equal terms provisions, since those claims can be brought only by an “assembly” or “institution.”  While the court dismissed these claims, identical claims brought by a Jewish congregation – an assembly or institution under RLUIPA … Continue Reading

Maryland Federal Court – Church’s Alleged Substantial Burden was Self-Imposed

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Equal Terms, First Amendment, Nondiscrimination, Substantial Burden
A federal court in Maryland recently rejected a church’s RLUIPA and related constitutional claims, finding that the religious group’s claimed harm was self-created.  The case demonstrates the importance of due diligence efforts in connection with developing property in the context of a religious land use controversy. The religious group, Jesus Christ is the Answer Ministries, … Continue Reading

Pave it! RFRA Unlikely to Protect Sacred Burial Ground

By Karla Chaffee on Posted in Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Substantial Burden
A Federal Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court of Oregon recently issued findings and recommendations in Chief Wilder Slockish, et al. v. U.S. Federal Highway Administration, et al., concluding that federal highway construction work did not impose a substantial burden on plaintiffs’ religious exercise. Plaintiffs, including members of the Confederated Tribes of the … Continue Reading

Religious Land Use Controversy Brewing in Laurel, Maryland: Can a Church Worship in a Coffee Shop?

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Equal Terms, Nondiscrimination, Substantial Burden
Redemption Community Church (the “Church”) has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Laurel, Maryland (the “City”), after the City issued a cease and desist order prohibiting the Church from offering religious services at the coffee shop it owns in the City’s community-village zoning district (the “CV Zone”). According to the complaint, the Church … Continue Reading

Church’s RLUIPA Claims Unripe and Moot, Says Federal Court

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Ripeness, Substantial Burden
A federal district court in Illinois has dismissed religious discrimination and related claims alleged by the Church of Our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ (“Church”) against the City of Markham, Illinois (“City”), in connection with the City’s denial of the Church’s application for a conditional use permit.  We previously posted about this case, Church of … Continue Reading

City of Bayonne, NJ to Pay $400,000 to Settle Claims Over Mosque Denial

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Settlement, Substantial Burden
The City of Bayonne, New Jersey has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed this past summer by Bayonne Muslims, asserting that the city discriminated against the Muslim group after denying variances needed to convert an abandoned warehouse to a mosque (read our previous post about the lawsuit here).  As part of the settlement, the city … Continue Reading

CAFO Stinks, but Not a Substantial Burden

By Karla Chaffee and Evan Seeman on Posted in Land Use Regulation, Substantial Burden
Do 1,400 cattle and 17.4 million gallons of cow waste in open-air lagoons, upwind and a half a mile from a religious youth summer camp, impose a substantial burden? As unpleasant as a concentrated animal feed operation (“CAFO”) may be, a neighboring religious organization cannot use RLUIPA as a shield to prevent its operation. We … Continue Reading

Church Alleges Religious Discrimination Over Baltimore County’s Conditions on Approval of Development Plan

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Substantial Burden
Hunt Valley Presbyterian Church (the “Church”) has sued Baltimore County, Maryland and the Board of Appeals of Baltimore County (together, “Baltimore County”), challenging Baltimore County’s conditional approval of the Church’s development plan, which sought to expand an existing house of worship.  This is the fourth congregation to bring RLUIPA claims against Baltimore County in the … Continue Reading

Mahwah Eruv Update

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Equal Terms, Substantial Burden
In an update to our previous post about an eruv dispute in New Jersey, the Mahwah Township Council has voted to withdraw two ordinances at the center of a religious discrimination lawsuit involving the construction of an eruv.  In September, we reported about Bergen Rockland Eruv Association, Inc.’s (“BREA”) lawsuit against the Township of Mahwah … Continue Reading

Kenyan Church Claims Baltimore County’s Land Use Regulations Impose Substantial Burden

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Nondiscrimination, Substantial Burden
Last week, Jesus Christ is the Answer Ministries, Inc. (the “Church”), a nondenominational Christian church in Baltimore County, Maryland, and the Church’s pastor, Reverend Lucy Ware, filed suit against Baltimore County, Maryland and the Board of Appeals of Baltimore County (together, “Baltimore County”), challenging Baltimore County’s denial of the Church’s petition to use Rev. Ware’s … Continue Reading

Department of Justice and Bensalem Township, PA Settle Lawsuit Over Mosque Denial

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Department of Justice, Equal Terms, Nondiscrimination, Substantial Burden, Unreasonable Limitation
The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has reached an agreement with Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania (“Township”), resolving allegations that the Township violated each of RLUIPA’s provisions when it denied a use variance application submitted by the Bensalem Masjid, Inc. (“Masjid”) to build a mosque.  We previously posted about this case here. The DOJ lawsuit arose … Continue Reading

Municipality Prevails in Dispute Over Personal Chapel

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Equal Terms, Substantial Burden
The City of Brier, Washington (City) has prevailed over claims that it violated the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and other federal law in a dispute over a variance application to construct a personal Serbian Orthodox chapel. The case was brought by Vladan Milosavlejevic and his company (the Plaintiff), who sought to … Continue Reading

Eruv Dispute Prompts Claims of Religious Discrimination Against New Jersey Township

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Equal Terms, Substantial Burden
Last month, Bergen Rockland Eruv Association, Inc. (BREA) sued the Township of Mahwah, New Jersey regarding a dispute over the expansion of an eruv.  According to the complaint, “[a]n eruv, under Jewish law, is a largely invisible unbroken demarcation of an area … created by, among other things, using existing telephone or utility poles and … Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Rules No Religious Discrimination Based On Sprinkler Requirement

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Substantial Burden
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has affirmed the decision of the Northern District of Illinois, finding against a faith-based recovery home’s claims of religious discrimination and Fair Housing Act violations stemming from a fire code dispute over the installation of a sprinkler system.  Our prior post regarding the case is available … Continue Reading

Requiring Repair, Rather than Demolition, For Church’s Violations of Municipality’s Property Maintenance Code May Impose A Substantial Burden

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Equal Terms, Land Use Regulation, Substantial Burden
An Illinois appellate court reversed a lower court’s dismissal of RLUIPA claims asserted by the First United Methodist Church of West Dundee (the “Church”) against the Village of West Dundee, Illinois (the “Village”), finding that the Church sufficiently stated claims under the substantial burden and equal terms clauses. The case concerns a historic building located … Continue Reading

New Substantial Burden Framework in the Sixth Circuit; Court Upholds RLUIPA Verdict in Favor of Michigan Township

By Karla Chaffee on Posted in Substantial Burden
In an important decision for municipalities across the Country, the Sixth Circuit upheld a district court decision that found Genoa Charter Township (Township) did not violate federal law in denying a church’s application for a special use permit to operate a religious school. The take away from the case? Asking students to drive an extra … Continue Reading

City of Bayonne, New Jersey Sued Over Denial of Application to Build a Mosque

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Nondiscrimination, Substantial Burden
Last month, Bayonne Muslims, a New Jersey not-for-profit religious congregation, sued the City of Bayonne, New Jersey (the “City”), challenging the City’s denial of certain variances needed to construct a mosque.  Specifically, the City’s Zoning Board denied Bayonne Muslims’ application for a conditional use variance, a parking bulk variance, and additional setback and buffer variances. … Continue Reading

Jewish School’s RLUIPA Claims Are Ripe For Adjudication

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Equal Terms, First Amendment, Nondiscrimination, Ripeness, Substantial Burden
A federal court in the District of New Jersey has determined that claims asserted by the Congregation Kollel, Inc. (“Congregation”) against the Township of Howell, New Jersey (“Township”), based on the allegedly improper denial of a land use permit to build a Jewish educational facility, are ripe for review. The Congregation’s Proposed Plans The Congregation … Continue Reading

Nashville Islamic Center’s Religious Discrimination Claims Dismissed

By Diana Neeves on Posted in First Amendment, Land Use Regulation, Religious Exercise, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Substantial Burden
A federal district court in Tennessee recently dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction a claim by the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) lawsuit challenging a Tennessee property tax exemption law on religious freedom grounds. Please see our previous blog post about the case here. Background Since 1995, ICN has operated a religious school, the … Continue Reading

DOJ’s RLUIPA Claims Survive Motion to Dismiss

By Evan Seeman, Karla Chaffee and Dwight Merriam on Posted in Equal Terms, Nondiscrimination, Substantial Burden, Unreasonable Limitation
A federal court in Pennsylvania has denied Bensalem Township’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice challenging the Township’s denial of a use variance for a mosque.  The lawsuit alleges violations of the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and is in addition to a separate lawsuit … Continue Reading

DOJ Claims that County’s Denial of a Sewer Permit Violates RLUIPA

By Karla Chaffee, Evan Seeman, Dwight Merriam and John Peloso on Posted in Department of Justice, Nondiscrimination, Substantial Burden
Guest Post by Derek Valentine Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department (“DOJ”) filed suit in District Court for the Western District of Virginia against the Culpeper County Virginia Board of Supervisors alleging it acted in a discriminatory manor by denying a permanent pump and haul septic system permit for a proposed mosque. The Islamic … Continue Reading

Port Jervis, NY Sued by DOJ; Settles Two Days Later

By Evan Seeman, Karla Chaffee, John Peloso and Dwight Merriam on Posted in Equal Terms, Substantial Burden
The City of Port Jervis, New York has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) alleging that the City’s revision to its zoning code violated the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).  In August 2015, Goodwill Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Church) finalized a contract to purchase … Continue Reading
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