Menu
ReligiousLiberty.TV / Founders' First Freedom®
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Articles
ReligiousLiberty.TV / Founders' First Freedom®

Federal Court rules church can be excluded from California city downtown area

Posted on June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 by ReligiousLiberty.TV

Salinas, CA – A federal court in the San Francisco Bay Area has determined that churches do not contribute to a vibrant and fun atmosphere and therefore may be excluded from Salinas’ downtown area.

A church’s building use was restricted, due to the unequal treatment from the city

New Harvest Christian Fellowship (church website) has rented space along Main Street in Salinas for more than 25 years. Their growing congregation prompted leaders to recognize several years ago that the church needed a larger facility. In the meantime, the church has had to limit or even discontinue some ministries because of the space limitations. In 2017, it seemed the church’s prayers were answered when a larger building just across the street went up for sale. With property at a premium in Northern California, the church seized the opportunity and bought the building in early 2018.

But the city had a different vision for Main Street. It demanded sharp restrictions on the building’s use such as worship and assemblies only on the second floor, and dedication of retail space on the ground floor to an extent that proved unworkable for the church. The church contacted Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), which quickly recognized the preferential treatment the city was giving secular assembly uses at the same time it was blocking the church. Just a few feet away the city permitted theaters and live entertainment venues to operate without similar restrictions.

PJI filed suit and defended the church at court for unequal treatment in the land use right

When PJI pointed the city to the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which PJI has successfully litigated for many years, the city refused to budge and PJI filed suit.

On May 29, U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Van Keulen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a surprising decision siding with the city. The court determined that churches generate limited interest, do not draw tourists, and therefore detract from the city’s goals of vibrancy. The court further believed a city is justified in promoting a “street of fun” that excludes churches at the same time it allows even larger concert and entertainment venues. PJI pointed out that the city’s insistence that it must have only fun, tourist-friendly, and tax-generating entities downtown was undermined by its allowance of nursing homes and post offices. The court waved off this discrepancy.   

The court believed a city is justified in promoting a “street of fun” that excludes churches while allowing even larger concert and entertainment venues.

“Salinas deems churches as less deserving of equal treatment under the law than the live children’s theatre, two cinemas, and event center that share the City’s downtown corridor with New Harvest Fellowship,” observed Kevin Snider, PJI’s Chief Counsel who is the lead attorney in this case.  He further noted, “Salinas’ zoning policy seeks to promote a lively pedestrian-friendly street scene by clearing out street-level religious assemblies.  Since the lower court’s decision, ironically downtown Salinas has experienced a lively pedestrian street scene in the form of protests.  Those types of assemblies may not be the fun City officials were hoping for to replace churches.”

Brad Dacus, president of PJI, commented, “This continues to be one of the most striking examples of unequal treatment of a church in the land use context that we have seen in the past 20 years. We have appealed this case to the Ninth Circuit, and we are optimistic that a different result will be reached upon review by a higher court.”

###

Republished with the permission of Pacific Justice Institute.  This article originally appeared here: https://www.pacificjustice.org/press/court-city-can-exclude-churches-while-favoring-theaters-and-entertainment/

Tweets by RelLibertyTV

Recent Posts

  • U.S. District Court Dismisses Hunter v. US Dept of Education Lawsuit

    U.S. District Court Dismisses Hunter v. US Dept of Education Lawsuit

    February 5, 2023
  • Colorado Court: Baker Must Provide "Non-Expressive" Cake to Transgender Customer

    Colorado Court: Baker Must Provide "Non-Expressive" Cake to Transgender Customer

    January 30, 2023
  • Supreme Court to Hear Christian Postal Employee Religious Discrimination Claim - Groff v. DeJoy

    Supreme Court to Hear Christian Postal Employee Religious Discrimination Claim - Groff v. DeJoy

    January 13, 2023
  • Analysis of AB 2098 and Its Potential to Suppress Free Speech of Medical Professionals in California

    Analysis of AB 2098 and Its Potential to Suppress Free Speech of Medical Professionals in California

    January 11, 2023
  • Idaho Supreme Court Denies Petition to Recognize Fundamental Right to Abortion

    Idaho Supreme Court Denies Petition to Recognize Fundamental Right to Abortion

    January 9, 2023

We are not a law firm, do not provide any legal services, legal advice or “lawyer referral services” and do not provide or participate in any legal representation.

©2023 ReligiousLiberty.TV / Founders' First Freedom® | WordPress Theme by Superb Themes
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experience, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}