News & Analysis as of September 22, 2024

Equal Protection › Zoning Laws

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The Equal Protection Clause is a section of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution that provides that "no state shall...deny to any citizen within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Essentially, the Equal Protection Clause provides that the government must treat an individual the same way that it treats other individuals in the same circumstances. The 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause applies only to state governments, but the requirements of the clause apply to the federal government through the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment. less -

Land Use Challenges Showcase What’s There for the ‘Taking’

DarrowEverett LLP on 8/15/2024

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides that “No person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just...more

Religious Institutions Update: July 2024

Holland & Knight LLP on 7/12/2024

Vaccine Exemption Policy Requiring Citation to Official Doctrine Violates First Amendment Madison Houghton and Nathan A. Adams IV In Does 1-11 v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Colorado, 100 F. 4th 1251 (10th Cir. 2024), former...more

Chicago’s Application of Parking Regulations Violates RLUIPA

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 4/25/2024

In Immanuel Baptist Church v. City of Chicago, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently ruled that the City of Chicago had violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons...more

Louisiana Regulatory Taking Claim Defeated

Gray Reed on 4/5/2024

Itching to sue the government for taking your property? Treme v. St. John the Baptist Parish Council is a reminder that you must have a property interest subject to being taken in order to have standing to sue for a...more

Eleventh Circuit Clarifies RLUIPA Substantial Burden Inquiry

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 2/5/2024

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

Eleventh Circuit Finds City of Mobile Violated Religious Freedom Laws

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 1/17/2024

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

Madison, Wisconsin’s Denial of Athletic Field Lights Upheld Over Claims of Religious Discrimination

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 1/20/2023

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

Court Rules Meriden, CT’s Zoning Regulations Discriminatory

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 1/6/2023

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

Fourth Department Frenzy: Reversionary Zoning, Sewer Agreements, Site Plan Review, and Constitutional Rights

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on 7/19/2021

In Riedman Acquisitions, LLC v Town Bd. of Town of Mendon, 194 AD3d 1444, 2021 NY Slip Op 02952 [4th Dept 2021], the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, addressed several significant issues concerning land development...more

Baltimore County’s Zoning Code Found to Violate RLUIPA’s Equal Terms Provision

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 2/21/2020

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

City’s General Plan Policies Allowing Exemptions from Zoning Requirements Did Not Violate Fourteenth Amendment or Result in Spot...

Perkins Coie on 1/10/2020

The City of Sacramento did not violate constitutional law or implied-in-law zoning contract when it approved a project with characteristics that deviated from the City’s zoning ordinance. Sacramentans for Fair Planning v....more

City of Kirkwood, MO Hits Homerun in Religious Baseball Field Dispute in Eighth Circuit

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 12/16/2019

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

Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment Upheld Under CEQA

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 8/5/2019

In Sacramentans for Fair Planning v. City of Sacramento (2019) ___ Cal.App. 5th ___, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld the City of Sacramento’s use of a sustainable communities environmental assessment (“SCEA”)...more

Clifton, NJ Pays $2.5 Million to Settle RLUIPA Dispute

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 1/10/2019

Clifton, New Jersey has agreed to pay a Jewish congregation $2.5 million and will allow it to construct a synagogue. Congregation Shomrei Torah/Tiferes Boruch asked for permission to build a synagogue 11 years ago. The...more

Coconut Creek, Florida Amends Zoning Code Following DOJ’s RLUIPA Investigation

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 12/10/2018

Recently, the Department of Justice reported that it has closed its investigation into whether the City of Coconut Creek’s zoning code violated RLUIPA’s equal terms provision by treating secular assembly uses better than...more

Islamic Community Center Denied Variance Needed to Operate Mosque; Files Lawsuit Against Michigan City

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 11/21/2018

Earlier this month, an Islamic community center filed suit against the City of Troy, Michigan (“City”) after the City denied the group’s application for a variance needed to operate a mosque at the property it owns in the...more

As-Applied Challenge to Chicago Parking Standard Survives Motion to Dismiss

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 11/12/2018

“When is this Church like that Library?” The District Court for the Northern District of Illinois considered this question in its review of the City of Chicago’s motion to dismiss a RLUIPA equal terms claim brought against...more

Coffee Shop Church’s Claims Survive Motion to Dismiss, City Amends Code to Permit Use

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 10/18/2018

A federal court in Maryland has denied the City of Laurel, Maryland’s (“City”) motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Redemption Community Church (“Church”). ...more

Hand of Hope RLUIPA Claims Survive Summary Judgment

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 10/1/2018

Hand of Hope Pregnancy Resource Center (“Hand of Hope”) is a non-profit in Raleigh, North Carolina with the mission to “affirm the value of life from conception by compassionately sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ[.]” ...more

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

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 3/13/2018

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...more

Allenhurst, NJ Sued Under RLUIPA One Day and Settles the Next

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 2/7/2018

The Borough of Allenhurst, New Jersey has settled a lawsuit against an Orthodox Jewish group just one day after the group filed suit in federal court alleging violations of RLUIPA’s unreasonable limits and exclusions and...more

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

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 1/16/2018

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. ...more

City’s Refusal to Permit Private Religious School in Business District Does Not Violate RLUIPA

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 11/10/2017

A federal court has issued another decision in the longstanding RLUIPA battle between the City of Upper Arlington, Ohio (“City”) and Tree of Life Christian Schools (“TLC”). For a second time, a federal court in the Southern...more

Municipality Prevails in Dispute Over Personal Chapel

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 9/14/2017

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...more

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

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 6/8/2017

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. ...more

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Equal Protection › Zoning Laws

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