A religious congregation applied to the zoning board for a special exception allowing them to build a church in a residential district. After the zoning board denied the application, the congregation filed suit, alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, violations of the New Hampshire constitution, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”). Subsequent to the filing of the action, the parties reached a settlement. In light of this settlement, the parties filed a motion to stay the case for sixty days to allow the zoning board to present the plan in a public hearing before settling.
The district court held that since the parties have reached a proposed settlement, the case is no longer ripe and the issues are moot. Issues are moot where there is no interest in the outcome and ripeness requires that there must be issues ready for judicial review. Here, since the parties are attempting to settle the issue, they are not seeking a decision on the merits of the action. Thus, the court dismissed the action without prejudice, however, they note that the parties have an opportunity to show why dismissal should not occur. If neither do so, the case remains dismissed until there is an actual claim that arises, possibly from the proceedings by the zoning board.
Merrimack Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v. Town of Merrimack, 2011 WL 5289869 (D. N.H. 11/1/2011)
