Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenas Nuevas v. City of Yuma

• Decision Date: 30 January 2009
• Docket Number: No. CV-08-996-PHX-NVW.,CV-08-996-PHX-NVW.
• Citation: 615 F.Supp.2d 980
• Parties: CENTRO FAMILIAR CRISTIANO BUENAS NUEVAS; and Jorge Orozco, Pastor, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF YUMA, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Arizona

615 F.Supp.2d 980

CENTRO FAMILIAR CRISTIANO BUENAS NUEVAS; and Jorge Orozco, Pastor, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF YUMA, Defendant.

No. CV-08-996-PHX-NVW.

United States District Court, D. Arizona.

January 30, 2009.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Byron Jeffords Babione, Benjamin W. Bull, David Robert Sheasby, Alliance Defense Fund, Scottsdale, AZ, Deborah Marie Sheasby, Phoenix, AZ, for Plaintiffs.

Aaron Darnell Ford, Snell & Wilmer LLP, Las Vegas, NV, Ronald W. Messerly, Kevin J. Parker, Snell & Wilmer LLP, Phoenix, AZ, for Defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, and ORDER

NEIL V. WAKE, District Judge.

Plaintiff Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenas Nuevas ("the Church") purchased a property at 354 S. Main St. in downtown Yuma, Arizona intending to use the facility as a church. The City's Planning and Zoning Commission denied the Church a conditional use permit ("CUP"), so the Church and its pastor, Jorge Orozco, brought this suit for declaratory judgment and permanent injunction, alleging violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. § § 2000cc to 2000cc-5, the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and the Arizona Religious Freedom Restoration Act, A.R.S. §§ 41-1493 to 41-1493.02. The parties agreed to consolidate the Church's motion for preliminary injunction with trial on the merits under Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2) and have stipulated to many of the facts. This order states findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a).

I. Findings of Fact

A. The City of Yuma

The City of Yuma lies in the southwestern corner of the State of Arizona, near the confluence of the Colorado River and the Gila River. Since the mid-1990s, the City has been redeveloping its historic downtown and riverfront areas. The City began by producing a document entitled "Historic Downtown Yuma: Imagine a 2020 Vision," which envisioned revitalizing Main Street and the riverfront with activity generating uses and attractions. Throughout the 1990s, significant public investments were made to increase tourism and visitation in those areas, such as creating the Yuma Crossing State Historic Park, clearing uses that did not generate visitation, and restoring historic sites on Main Street, such as the San Carlos Hotel.

In 2000, the United States Congress created the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area ("YCNHA"), a twenty-two square mile area along the Colorado River that includes the City's riverfront, historic downtown, and surrounding historic neighborhoods. The express purpose of the YCNHA is to promote development of those areas. The YCNHA is a private non-profit corporation whose executive director is paid by the City. Working from the City's 2020 Vision, and in consultation with the local community, the YCNHA Management Plan ("the management plan") was created and approved locally and by the Secretary of the Interior of the United States in July of 2002. The management plan includes seven districts, including the Downtown Riverfront and Main Street. The Downtown Riverfront area will include a new Arizona Welcome Center, which is financed with $4 million in state investment. It also includes Gateway Park, which was financed with $4.4 million in public investment, and a $30 million dollar hotel conference center.

The City's Main Street terminates near Gateway Park. The management plan seeks to integrate the Main Street area with Gateway Park by attracting "private investment in new residential housing, office development, entertainment, and in-fill development." (Trial Ex. 28 at 12.) To this end, the City assisted in the creation of Main Street Cinemas with a $250,000 loan, invested $6 million in the renovation of the Art Center and Theater, and sold land at a discounted price to promote a mixed-use commercial and residential development called "Shopkeepers." Additionally, Main Street had been closed to vehicular traffic for many years. Closure of the street enabled the City to hold large festivals in the area but decreased visitation to adjacent businesses. The management plan proposed to reopen Main Street as a "convertible street," accessible to vehicular traffic at most times, but able to be closed for festivals and other large events. That proposal came to fruition in early 2007, just before the Church submitted its CUP application, when Main Street was reopened with $3.8 million in public investment. Such public and private investments, along with the planning documentation, demonstrate that the City has a bona fide, unique, and long-term redevelopment plan for Main Street.

Main Street encompasses three city blocks from 1st Street to Giss Parkway in downtown Yuma. It is part of the Old Town District, which is defined by Yuma City Code § 154-185. As explained in the code:

The Old Town (OT) District is intended to be a retail, business, and government center with a special emphasis on tourism and historic preservation, due to the unique qualities present in the Old Town (OT) District that set it apart from all other districts in the city. In this district, commercial establishments are intended to serve the residents of the city, as well as visitors to the area. The priority of this district is to establish and support a mixture of commercial, cultural, governmental, and residential uses that will help to ensure a lively pedestrian-oriented district.

The code permits a variety of uses as a matter of right within the Old Town District, including "Membership organizations (except religious organizations (SIC 86))." Yuma City Code § 154-187. The abbreviation "SIC" refers to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, a publication of the United States Office of Management and Budget that is used to classify establishments for statistical purposes. The code also permits certain uses upon the granting of a CUP, including drive-through facilities, gasoline service stations, educational services, job training and vocational rehabilitation services, religious organizations, outdoor sales, and utility installations. Yuma City Code § 154-188. Religious organizations are allowed as a matter of right in Transitional Districts, Limited Commercial Districts, General Commercial Districts, and Planned Shopping Center Districts, which comprise 3.7 square miles of the City.

Within the Old Town District, but not on Main Street, are a Masonic Temple, a Fraternal Order of Eagles, and a Christian Science Church and Reading Room. The Masonic Temple and the Eagles' existence in downtown predated the creation of the Old Town District. Some of the uses currently on Main Street are Main Street Cinemas, the Yuma Art Center and Historic Yuma Theatre, Golden Roadrunners Dance Hall, Americana Personalized Fitness Center, Dawn's Dance School, and the Yuma Community Theater Company. The City has not approved a CUP for any church, educational service, or job training or vocational rehabilitation service to locate on or near Main Street.

B. The Church's Search for Property to Purchase

Pastor Jorge Orozco directed Martin Lara, the Church's administrator, to locate a property for the Church for the first time in 1999. However, because the Church did not have sufficient funds, Mr. Lara did not actually start identifying potential properties until 2003. Mr. Lara identified two potential buildings in September of 2003 and March of 2004. He attended pre-development meetings for both buildings with the City's Department of Community Development. Neither building was in downtown Yuma. Although one of the buildings was 6,000 square feet in area, Mr. Lara and Pastor Orozco ultimately decided not to buy either building because they were too small and the necessary improvements were too burdensome.

Sometime in 2004 the Church began leasing its current location, which is half of a 19,000 square-foot former movie theater at 3142 Arizona Avenue in Yuma. The building is not located in downtown Yuma. Another church occupies the other half of the building. Because the other church began renting its half of the building first, it imposes some restrictions on the time and manner of the Church's use of its half of the building. The Church believes that its half of the building is too small and lacks the installations necessary to carry out activities essential to its faith, such as corporate worship, public baptism, religious instruction classes including Sunday school and Bible study, and general education instruction. In addition, the owner of the building will not allow the Church to modify it to suit its needs. The owner has put the property up for sale and the Church is able to rent it only on a month-to-month basis.

Faced with these circumstances, the Church decided to continue its search for a property to purchase. In 2005, the Church made a down payment on land outside of the City limits and made plans to build a 6,000 square-foot church with a seating capacity for 250 to 300 people. At that time, the Church believed that a building of that size would adequately meet its present needs. (Trial Tr. at 135.) However, the Church did not ultimately complete that transaction because the builder raised the price above what the Church was able to pay. Much later, in January 2007, Mr. Lara identified a 4,500 square-foot property at 2879 S. Ave. 4E and attended a pre-development meeting with the City. Again, the property was not located in downtown Yuma. The City informed the Church that it would need to obtain a special permit from a nearby military installation because the building fell within a sound contour. The parking area also required improvements. The Church decided not to purchase the property.

The Church next contacted a realtor, John Abarca, to help them locate a suitable property. Mr. Lara spoke with Mr. Abarca about the type of property the Church desired. Specifically, he requested Mr. Abarca to locate a facility that could eventually...