On its face, land use law is sometimes straight forward. Landowners, businesses, and other entities are permitted to use land one way, but not another way. But, when the entity is religious, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) is potentially implicated, and the rights drastically change. Recently, the limits of RLUIPA were tested in a federal court in Colorado in Church of the Rock, Inc. v. Town of Castle Rock.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico granted a preliminary injunction to The Rock evangelical church (“the Rock”). The Rock sought an exemption from Castle Rock, a small town in between Denver and Colorado Springs, to operate a makeshift homeless shelter using a recreational vehicle and a camping trailer to temporarily shelter homeless individuals and families, notwithstanding Castle Rock’s law that the property where the Rock is located does not permit a residential use.
Under RLUIPA, the Rock must have shown that a land use restriction was imposing a “substantial burden” on religious exercise. In this case, religious exercise was proven using certain passages from the Bible. Namely, the Rock pointed to Leviticus 25:35-36, which states essentially that if fellow Christians “become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you.”
Interestingly, this case comes at a time where developers are looking at churches, and other religious buildings to get involved in affordable housing development. Judge Domenico noted in his opinion that the Rock was motivated by “Yes, In God’s Backyard”ism, an effort to create affordable housing on church property. As more and more religious entities start looking into these types of developments, the limits of RLUIPA will continue to be tested. Is the entity serving its religion or looking for a profit? Here, the Rock is also in the process if seeking a
The case itself has an added layer of interest as the eventual last stop for the case could be the Supreme Court. The Rock hired an experienced Supreme Court litigator and the First Liberty Institute, who famously led won an appeal for the high school coach who wanted to lead prayers publicly after football games. Now, the Rock’s case seems to be up next.
The attorneys at Dalton & Tomich have litigated numerous RLUIPA cases and will continue to monitor the Town of Castle Rock case to keep informed with the latest changes in precedent. If you have any questions about RLUIPA or land use generally, please do not hesitate to contact us.
