The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently clarified how to determine whether a substantial burden on religious exercise exists for purposes of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons...more
2/5/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Equal Protection ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Religious Institutions ,
RLUIPA ,
Statutory Violations ,
Substantial Burden ,
Zoning Board of Appeals ,
Zoning Laws
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently considered a long-running religious land use dispute involving the Thai Meditation Association of Alabama (TMAA) and the city of Mobile, Alabama. The...more
The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) of Massachusetts recently ruled that the RV Camp proposed by Hume Lake Christian Camps’ (Hume) was predominantly religious in nature and therefore qualified for protection under the Dover...more
The Fourth Circuit has ruled against the Alive Church of the Nazarene’s claims that Prince William County, Virginia, violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLIUPA) by denying the Church the...more
On December 30, 2022, a district court dismissed a Catholic high school’s RLUIPA challenge, granting summary judgment on all claims in favor of the City of Madison, Wisconsin and various other city officials (the City). As...more
A district court has ruled that the City of Meriden, Connecticut (the City) discriminated against Omar Islamic Center Inc. following the City’s denial of the Islamic Center’s application to move its mosque to another...more
Zoning laws are changing in Connecticut. The goal? To make housing more affordable and accessible for everyone. -
Nearly a century ago, the Connecticut Legislature adopted the “Standard Zoning Enabling Act” (now Chapter...more
6/14/2021
/ Affordable Housing ,
Construction Project ,
Housing Market ,
Mandated Diversity Requirements ,
Multi-Family Development ,
Municipalities ,
New Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Maps
An interesting decision regarding RLUIPA and COVID-19 emergency public health orders was recently issued by a federal court in Missouri. Recall that in the land use context, RLUIPA applies only to “land use regulations.”...more
A federal court in Florida recently ruled that Pass-A-Grille Beach Community Church, Inc. (Church) was likely to prevail on its RLUIPA substantial burden claim challenging the City of St. Pete Beach’s enforcement of parking...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently found in favor of the Town of Pembroke, New Hampshire regarding the Town’s denial of an application for an electronic sign permit for religious messages. The Town’s...more
If you are a municipality defending against a RLUIPA lawsuit, it is generally not a good sign when a court’s memorandum of decision begins with a string of biblical quotes. Wakulla County Florida experienced this earlier...more
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an application for injunctive relief filed by South Bay United Pentecostal Church (Church) challenging California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Stay-At-Home order and 4-stage...more
6/2/2020
/ Churches ,
Compelling Governmental Interest ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Executive Orders ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Governor Newsom ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Motion for Relief ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
SCOTUS ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
Social Distancing ,
South Bay United Pentecostal Church v Newsom ,
TRO
Last week, a federal court in North Carolina issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the assembly of religious worship provisions in Governor Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 138 (EO-138). The court found that EO-138 was...more
Just as quickly as we wrote COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts on Land Use and Zoning, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont issued Executive Order No. 7MM (the Order) to provide municipalities and land users some clarity regarding outdoor...more
As we are all too aware, on March 10, 2020, Governor Ned Lamont issued declarations of public health and civil preparedness emergencies, proclaiming a state of emergency throughout the State of Connecticut as a result of the...more
5/14/2020
/ Construction Project ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Infrastructure ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Municipalities ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Real Estate Development ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Tolling ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
Earlier this month, a federal court in Kentucky temporarily enjoined an order issued by the Mayor of Louisville on the grounds that the order likely violated First Amendment and Kentucky’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. ...more
RLUIPA’s equal terms provision requires municipalities to treat religious uses no worse than analogous secular assembly uses. Generally, if a municipality wants to either prohibit religious uses from a certain zone or...more
Ripeness is an important defense to RLUIPA claims. A plaintiff must receive a final decision from the local authority as to how the zoning law applies to its proposal. If not, plaintiff’s RLUIPA claim could be dismissed as...more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an important decision regarding RLUIPA’s substantial burden and equal terms provisions. ...more
12/16/2019
/ Appeals ,
Equal Protection ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Municipalities ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
RLUIPA ,
School Sports ,
Substantial Burden ,
Zoning Laws
Wayside Chapel Evangelical Free Church is suing Castle Hills, Texas for denying its application for a special use permit for property located at 113 Ivywood Circle. The Church claims that the extra space is needed to...more
A federal court in New York issued an important decision that should serve as a reminder about the reach of RLUIPA. The case involves a homeowner’s request to have an Amish roofer repair her damaged roof. In April 2018,...more
Late last month, an addiction ministry known as Vision Warriors Church, Inc. sued the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners under the Fair Housing Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, RLUIPA, and the U.S. Constitution. ...more
Last week, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Knick v. Township of Scott. In a 5-4 decision, the Court overruled the requirement that property owners first pursue takings claims in state...more
6/24/2019
/ 42 U.S.C. §1983 ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Inverse Condemnation ,
Just Compensation ,
Knick v Township of Scott Pennsylvania ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
State Law Remedies ,
Takings Clause
Last week, the United States Supreme Court denied Tree of Life Christian Schools’ petition for certiorari involving its longstanding religious dispute with Upper Arlington, Ohio (City). In 2009, Tree of Life purchased a...more
A United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee recently ruled that Layman Lessons Church and Welcome Baptist Church, Inc. (“Layman Lessons”) can move forward with most, but not all, of its religious...more
4/29/2019
/ Equal Protection ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Homeless Issues ,
Mootness ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Religious Institutions ,
RLUIPA ,
State and Local Government ,
Substantial Burden