On The Front Lines

Rutherford Institute Attorneys Sues Florida Town Over Efforts to Thwart Church's Right to Freely Exercise Religious Beliefs

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of a Florida church that was prevented by local government officials from fully exercising its religious freedom, allegedly in an effort to appease a small but vocal group of local residents who oppose additional church growth. In the lawsuit, filed with the Federal District Court in the Southern District of Florida, Christ Covenant Church alleges that officials of the Town of Southwest Ranches violated the U.S. Constitution and the Florida Constitution when they refused to approve the Church's request to amend a site plan to make necessary improvements to its property in order to accommodate the growth of the church and its ministry.

Institute attorneys also charge that Town officials violated the Church's rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law enacted in 2000 that is designed to protect churches from local land use decisions that unduly burden the exercise of religion or are discriminatory. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the Town acted unlawfully and unreasonably burdened the Church's exercise of its religion and requests that the court order the Town to grant the Church's application.

"Local governments cannot--and should not--inhibit churches from improving their property under the guise of controlling growth," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Churches have a right to be treated equally and not discriminated against simply because they are religious institutions."

Located in the Town of Southwest Ranches, Fla., Christ Covenant Church's facilities were originally opened in 2000. According to the complaint, church officials began exploring the possibility of expanding the church's facilities in 2002 in order to accommodate its growing congregation and to conduct religious activities such as Bible studies, weddings, funerals and family meetings. They subsequently met with a consulting firm used by the town for reviewing applications regarding land use and development.

In December 2005, after several years of negotiations, church officials submitted a site plan amendment application to the Town Commission seeking permission to construct a 2000-square-foot addition. The Commission's planning and zoning staff found that the plan met all the established criteria for the addition and recommended that the site plan amendment be approved. Nevertheless, when the Town Council finally considered the application in June 2006, they voted not to approve the application on the pretext that the church did not have a sufficient number of parking spaces.

However, according to calculations made by the Broward County Fire Marshal and shown to the Council, the requisite number of parking spaces exists on the site. The complaint charges that the Council's denial of the church's application, allegedly intended to appease a small group of local residents who oppose additional church growth, resulted in the church being denied its right to freely exercise its religion and being discriminated against in violation of the Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.