Grace United Methodist Church v. City of Cheyenne, 02-CV-035-B.

• Decision Date: 16 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. 02-CV-035-B.,02-CV-035-B.
• Citation: 235 F.Supp.2d 1186
• Parties: GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHEYENNE; City of Cheyenne Board of Adjustment; Dorothy Wilson, City of Cheyenne Development Director; and Cheyenne City Council, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Wyoming

235 F.Supp.2d 1186

GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHEYENNE; City of Cheyenne Board of Adjustment; Dorothy Wilson, City of Cheyenne Development Director; and Cheyenne City Council, Defendants.

No. 02-CV-035-B.

United States District Court, D. Wyoming.

December 16, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Samuel M. Ventola, Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons, Denver, CO, for plaintiff.

Mary B. Guthrie, Michael D. Basom, City Attorney's Office, Cheyenne, WY, for defendants.

ORDER DENYING IN PART AND GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFF'S CROSS-MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

BRIMMER, District Judge.

This case arises out of Grace United Methodist Church's attempt to operate a day care facility with a component of religious instruction in contravention of the City of Cheyenne's land use regulations. The matter is currently before the Court on: (1) Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary judgment on its First Claim for Relief under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"); and (2) Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, which has been converted to a Motion for Summary Judgment. Upon reading the briefs, hearing oral argument, and being fully advised of the premises, the Court FINDS and ORDERS as follows:

Statement of Parties and Jurisdiction

Plaintiff Grace United Methodist Church ("Plaintiff" or "Grace United") is a nonprofit religious corporation that has been located in a residential area of Cheyenne, Wyoming since 1956. The area in which Plaintiff's church is located is zoned Low-Density Residential-Established ("LR-1"). (See Cheyenne Code, Appendix A-Zoning, § 41.100). With the Board of Adjustment's approval, operating a church in a LR-1 zoned area is a permissible land use. (See id. at § 41.113). Plaintiff is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, which is a worldwide Christian religious organization based primarily on holy scriptures and secondarily on the teachings of Reverend John Wesley. (Pl.'s Resp. to Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss and Pl.'s Mot. for Summ. J. ("Pl.'s Resp. Br."), Exh. A).

Defendant City of Cheyenne ("City" or "Cheyenne") is a municipality within the State of Wyoming. Defendant City of Cheyenne Board of Adjustment ("Board of Adjustment") has been delegated the power to hear and decide: (1) appeals from zoning determinations; and (2) special exceptions and variances from zoning ordinances. The creation, operation, powers, duties, and functions of the Board of Adjustment are established by statute. See Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 15-1-605 through 15-1-608. Defendant Dorothy Wilson, who has been sued in her official capacity, is the Development Director for Cheyenne. In this capacity Defendant Wilson is authorized to approve or disapprove of proposed uses of property within Cheyenne.

The Court exercises jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Venue is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2).

Background

A. Procedural Background.

On February 20, 2002, Plaintiff filed its Complaint. Plaintiff avers that Defendants: (1) violated RLUIPA by substantially burdening Plaintiff's religious exercise; (2) violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the First Amendment by depriving Plaintiff of its rights to the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association; (3) violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses by denying Plaintiff use of its property. (Pl.'s Compl., at ¶¶ 15-30). Plaintiff's request for relief seeks: (1) a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining Defendants from prohibiting Plaintiff's use of its property as a religious school and day care; (2) a declaration that the City of Cheyenne zoning ordinance in question and the application of such ordinance is void and in violation of the law; and (3) compensatory damages, costs, and attorney's fees. (Id. at ¶ 30(a)-(d)).

On April 23, 2002, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss in lieu of filing an Answer. On May 20, 2002, Plaintiff filed its Response to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss and a Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment on its RLUIPA claim. On May 23, 2002, this Court converted Defendants' Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) Motion to a Fed. R.Civ.P. 56 Motion and requested additional information from the parties. On May 31, 2002, the Court held an initial hearing on the parties' Motions for Summary Judgment. Subsequently, the Court ordered the parties to file supplemental briefs in support of their positions for summary judgment. On September 19 and 20, 2002, the parties filed their supplemental briefs with the Court. On November 25, 2002, the Court heard argument on the parties' supplemental briefs.

B. Background Relevant to the Parties' Claims.

Grace United Methodist Church is located in a Low Density Residential Established, LR-1, neighborhood in Cheyenne. (Pl.'s Compl. at ¶¶ 6-7). Reverend Jon Laughlin is the pastor at the church. One of the missions of Grace United is to educate children in the Christian faith. (Id. at ¶ 6).

Cheyenne has adopted a zoning ordinance that regulates land use within the city limits. (See Cheyenne Code, Appendix A-Zoning). The zoning ordinance permits the construction of churches in residential areas. (Pl.'s Compl. at ¶ 8). However, day care facilities over a certain size are not permitted in residential areas unless a variance is granted. (Id.). Nevertheless, Cheyenne permits the construction and operations of day cares in several other areas of the City. (Id.). The Board of Adjustment is authorized to hear appeals from adverse zoning decisions. (Id. at ¶ 7).

Between 1998 and early 2000, Plaintiff decided to build an addition to its church and hired a licensed architect to develop plans for the addition. (Pl.'s Additional Br. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. and in Resp. to Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss or for Summ. J., ("Pl.'s Suppl. Br."), Exh. A, at p. 4). The estimated cost of the addition was $687,000. (Id.). Reverend Laughlin testified that "the entire facility [i.e., the addition] was going to be used for child care." (Id., at p. 18). Plaintiff planned to use revenue generated from a "child care" operation and a pledge campaign by members of the congregation to pay for overhead, staff expenses, and debt service on the loan associated with the addition. (Id. at pp. 16-17). In late 1998, or early 1999, Plaintiff approached the State of Wyoming about obtaining a license for a "day care or child care" facility. (Id. at p. 5).

In all its dealings with the City of Cheyenne prior to filing suit, Plaintiff referred to its proposed operation as a "day care" facility and not as a religious school. (Id. at pp. 22-24). In March 2001, Plaintiff submitted an application with the City of Cheyenne to establish a "day care" center at its church. (Pl.'s Resp. Br., Exh. B, at p. 1). The proposed operation would provide care for newborn to thirteen-year-old children. (Id. at p. 2). The facility would operate sixteen hours a day — between 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. — and would permit up to one hundred kids to enroll. (Id.; Pl.'s Resp. Br., Exh. C, at p. 37).

However, Cheyenne's Development Director, Defendant Wilson, denied the application for the "day care" license, thus preventing Plaintiff from operating the day care in its church building. (Pl.'s Comp. ¶¶ 9-10). Plaintiff appealed this adverse decision to the Board of Adjustment. (Id. at ¶ 11). The Board of Adjustment denied the appeal, concluding: (1) the proposed day care facility could not be operated by Plaintiff in a residential area because it was not a church, primary or secondary school, or other similar use permitted in a LR-1 zoned area; (2) the Board was without discretion to grant Plaintiff's proposed day care; and (3) the proposed day care was incompatible with community goals and the neighborhood. (Pl.'s Resp. Br., Exh. B, at pp. 3-4). The Board also concluded that "the denial of the proposed day care does not impose a substantial burden upon Grace's religious exercise and that the City has a compelling governmental interest in protecting the integrity and sustaining the safety of the neighborhood." (Id. at p. 4, ¶ 8).

Plaintiff claims that the proposed "day care" was, in fact, a religious school designed to provide Christian education to children who would otherwise be placed in secular pre-school or day care because of prevalence of single parent families and families in which both parents work. (Pl.'s Resp. Br., at pp. 4-5). This religious school would constitute an outreach mission to bring young people and families into Christianity. (Id. at p. 5). Further, it would violate Plaintiff's religious doctrine for it to limit the "religious school" enrollment to Methodists or limit the instruction to strictly Methodist matters. (Id.). Plaintiff claims that Cheyenne's land use regulation limits and restricts its use and development of the land, including a structure affixed to the land. (Id.). Plaintiff also contests the Board's conclusion that the "religious school" would cause any serious traffic or safety problems in the residential neighborhood. (Id. at 5-6).

Nevertheless, Reverend Laughlin testified that the Church did not plan to operate a primary or secondary school; specifically, he testified that the church was "not a primary or secondary school because we weren't teaching those levels of classes, like you would a first or second grade. Those kids are in school, public or private schools." (Pl.'s Suppl. Br., Exh. A, at p. 10). Further, Reverend Laughlin testified that: (1) he never approached the Wyoming Department of Education about the Church's proposed "religious school"; (2) he would not require employees to have teaching certificates; (3) he would require its employees to be given training pursuant to the Wyoming Department of Family Service's regulations for day care centers; (4) he would train its employees on religious instruction; and (5) the fees charged for the "religious school" would...