Liberty Counsel Sues PA City Over 'Church-Free' Zone Ordinance
by Allie Martin
August 2, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Pennsylvania city is being sued on behalf of a local church, which claims the city's zoning ordinance is unconstitutional. The federal lawsuit was filed by Liberty Counsel on behalf of Lighthouse Christian Center against the City of Titusville.Earlier this year, Lighthouse Christian Center outgrew its 1,400-square-foot facility and signed a lease on a larger property that was zoned for commercial use -- a site located in the target community of the church's primary outreach to teens. Titusville officials refused to allow Lighthouse to use the property, however, because the city's zoning code does not allow churches in that area.
Attorney Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of the Florida-based legal organization Liberty Counsel, says the City of Titusville's zoning policy is unconstitutional and against the law. "It is because of these kinds of situations," he says, "that Congress got together in a bipartisan effort and in 2000 passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act."
Mat Staver | |
That law, also known as RLUIPA, was enacted for just such situations as this, "where cities have attempted to enact church-free zones from certain parts of the city or from the entire city," Staver explains. The provisions of the act are designed "to stop this kind of blatant discrimination against churches and houses of worship," he says.Along with violating RLUIPA, the Liberty Counsel spokesman asserts, Titusville's restrictive zoning ordinance also violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The zoning is discriminatory, he says, because it treats a religious institution differently as compared with the way it treats other types of establishments.
"If a city zoning area allows clubs, lodges, restaurants, bars, amusements or, certainly, theaters, it cannot ban churches," Staver insists. "But that is, in fact, what this particular city has attempted to do," he says.
The attorney notes that the City of Titusville's zoning code, Article 1311, Section 1311.04, does not allow churches, either as a matter of right or as a special exception and states: "Uses not specifically listed or defined to be included in the categories under this article shall not be permitted." Meanwhile, it does permit many other kinds of secular establishments where crowds of people gather for non-religious purposes.
"Common sense essentially dictates that if theaters or private clubs are permitted, then churches cannot be banned from the facility," the attorney contends. He feels the City has invited Lighthouse Christian Center's lawsuit by ignoring common sense and instead following a zoning restriction that violates the church's legal and constitutional rights.
Because the City's code prohibits churches from occupying property in the zone in question, Lighthouse was forced to seek a location outside Titusville. The church is currently renting a temporary building that lacks heat and insulation.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
