Liberty Counsel sent a letter to Florida’s Orange County Board of Commissioners (BCC) informing them their proposal to adopt an immediate moratorium on all zoning approvals for churches in rural areas is “blatantly unconstitutional and unlawful.”
The BCC has a scheduled meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, December 3 at 2 p.m. to discuss the Church Moratorium and amending the Orange County Zoning Code.
According to a Commissioner’s Report, sent via email November 22, Commissioner Emily Bonilla proposed the moratorium on only church-related permits or applications while the BCC amends the county’s zoning code for greater oversight over rural church developments. Specifically, the Church Moratorium states that the BCC should:
“Adopt an immediate moratorium on the acceptance, processing, and approval of church permits or applications in rural areas. This moratorium would prevent potential developments from proceeding under the current framework while updates are being developed. The moratorium should apply to all church- related permits or applications in rural areas, including those currently in process but not yet approved. This retroactive application is necessary to ensure that no projects move forward under the existing framework during the review and amendment period.”
In the proposal, Commissioner Bonilla notes that rural residents are concerned about the impacts of large-scale church developments on “rural character, infrastructure, and environmental resources.” She cites the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) as a need for “careful navigation” when regulating religious institutions.
However, in the letter, Liberty Counsel informs the BCC that prohibiting the zoning permits for just churches is a violation of RLUIPA, and also the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.
“One cannot navigate the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, nor RLUIPA in a manner so careful as to simultaneously exclude all churches from zoning approval and also comply with the Constitution’s demands,” wrote Liberty Counsel. “Commissioner Bonilla states that there must be ‘appropriate oversight of church developments,’ but the Church Moratorium provides not oversight, but unconstitutional exclusion of religion from Orange County.”
Liberty Counsel further notes that the Church Moratorium represents unconstitutional religious discrimination against churches by treating them less favorably than nonreligious buildings, singles them out for disparate treatment, and goes as far as targeting them for total prohibition.
“The Church Moratorium is facially drawn to gerrymander churches and religious assemblies out of the permit application process,” wrote Liberty Counsel. “The BCC is simply not permitted to exclude churches and religious assemblies from a zoning ordinance, nor is it permitted to place a total prohibition—even if temporary—on religious institutions.”
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “There is no such thing as a church-free zone. The Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act specifically prohibit local governments from using zoning laws to suppress churches and places of worship. The Orange County Board of Commissioners must rescind this unconstitutional proposal.”
