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7th Circuit Decides Two RLUIPA Zoning Cases

By Howard M. Friedman

In World Outreach Conference Center v. City of Chicago, (7th Cir., Dec. 30, 2009), the 7th Circuit issued an opinion in two consolidated appeals involving claims that zoning decisions violated RLUIPA. After concluding that RLUIPA is constitutional, the court initially focused on the City of Chicago's rezoning of a former YMCA building in a way that prevented World Outreach, a religious organization dedicated to providing living facilities to the homeless, from operating it as a community center. The court concluded that World Outreach had not shown religious discrimination, but instead did show that the city discriminated against it in favor of a developer who was a financial supporter of a city alderman. Allegations that the city harassed World Outreach through filing frivolous legal claims states a RLUIPA claim for imposing a substantial burden on the group's free exercise of religion.

In the second case, the court upheld the city of Peoria's classifying as a landmark an apartment building next door to Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. This designation prevented the church from tearing down the building in order to build a family life center. The court rejected the Church's RLUIPA claim, holding that the burden on its free exercise is only modest. It can sell the building and use the proceeds to construct a family life center elsewhere in the city. Today's Chicago Tribune reports on the Chicago portion of the opinion.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 31, 2009 (boomark / email).