The May/June issue of Religious Freedom in Focus (vol. 33) published by the U.S. Department of Justice reported the following:
On April 28, the Civil Rights Division closed its investigation of the City of Gainesville, Florida under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), after the city amended its zoning code to remove restrictions on religious assemblies in zoning districts where nonreligious assemblies are permitted and gave permission for a Christian congregation to worship in a former Moose Lodge. The Civil Rights Division had opened an investigation in April 2007 into whether the city’s treatment of the church, Fire of God Ministries, violated RLUIPA.
Fire of God Ministries is a nondenominational Christian church that has conducted public worship services in the Gainesville area since 2001. The church currently leases a building, formerly used as a Moose Lodge. The Moose Lodge was considered a lawful nonconforming use in the single-family residential zone. In February 2006, the church applied for a zoning compliance permit to continue using the building for assembly purposes. The city denied the permit and subsequently issued a notice of violation for using the building for religious assembly without a special use permit. In September 2006, the city informed the church that if the church did not obtain a special use permit within 60 days, the city would impose fines of $100 per day.
The Division then opened an investigation focusing on the city’s requirement that the church obtain a special use permit that nonreligious assemblies such as lodges did not have to obtain. Section 2(b)(1) of RLUIPA provides that “No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that treats a religious assembly or institution on less than equal terms with a nonreligious assembly or institution.”
While the Division’s investigation was pending, the church and the city reached an agreement that will allow the church to continue to operate as a place of worship, and the city amended its zoning code in March to remove the unequal restrictions imposed on religious assemblies.
More information about RLUIPA can be found on the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section homepage or at www.FirstFreedom.gov.
