Church of Foursquare Gospel v. City of San Leandro
| Decision Date | 22 December 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. C 07-3605 PJH.,C 07-3605 PJH. |
| Citation | 632 F.Supp.2d 925 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of California |
| Parties | INTERNATIONAL CHURCH OF the FOURSQUARE GOSPEL, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF SAN LEANDRO, Defendant. |
Kevin Trent Snider, Matthew Brown McReynolds, Sacramento, CA, Peter David MacDonald, Law Office of Peter MacDonald, Pleasanton, CA, for Plaintiff.
Jayne W. Williams, Deborah J. Fox, Kimberly M. Drake, Peter S. Hayes, Esq., Philip Alan Seymour, Meyers Nave Riback Silver & Wilson, Oakland, CA, for Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The parties' cross-motions for summary judgment came on for hearing before this court on October 1, 2008. Plaintiff appeared by its counsel Kevin T. Snider, Matthew B. McReynolds, and Peter MacDonald, and defendant appeared by its counsel Deborah J. Fox and Jayne W. Williams. Having read the parties' papers and carefully considered their arguments and the relevant legal authority, and good cause appearing, the court hereby GRANTS defendant's motion and DENIES plaintiff's motions.
This is a case alleging violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc ("RLUIPA"), and also asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for First and Fourteenth Amendment violations and violations of RLUIPA.
Plaintiff is the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel ("ICFG"). Defendant is the City of San Leandro, California ("the City"). ICFG alleges that the real party in interest is Faith Fellowship Foursquare Church ("the Church"), a congregation affiliated with ICFG, and located in San Leandro.
The Church was originally founded in 1947. When the present senior pastor, Gary Mortara, took over the management of the Church at its present location in September 1993, the congregation consisted of 65 people. The Church grew rapidly after 1993, and in April 2003, the Church completed construction of a new sanctuary on an adjacent property, with 650-700 seats. By the end of 2005, however, the Church had again outgrown its space.
According to ICFG, the Church presently conducts three religious services each Sunday for a total of more than 1700 attendees, and also runs numerous programs throughout the week, for children, the disadvantaged, women, youth, and persons struggling with addictions. The Church kitchen, which ICFG claims is smaller than the kitchen in most homes, is being used to feed between 300 and 400 people each Wednesday night. In addition, ICFG asserts that the parking lot has space for only 154 vehicles, and members of the congregation are forced to park on nearby residential streets, as much as a 20-minute walk away from the Church.
In January 2006, the Church decided to look for a larger property. In February 2006, the Church found a site located on two parcels at 14600 and 14850 Catalina Street in San Leandro, comprising 3.56 acres ("the property" or "the Catalina property"). The Catalina property is located within the City's Industrial Park ("IP") zoning district, and is situated in the "West San Leandro Focus Area," which was set aside in the City's General Plan to preserve an environment for industrial and technological activity. The property is adjacent to several manufacturing plants, and is surrounded by numerous other industrial and light-industrial uses.
The property is developed with a single-story office building of approximately 46,000 square feet, and includes 188 parking spaces. ICFG claims that the Catalina property can potentially accommodate 1100 people in the sanctuary and an additional 500 in other activities (Sunday school, adult Bible studies, etc.) per service. In addition, the kitchen and food preparation area is five times as large as the kitchen in the present location. ICFG contends that there is room for nearly 500 parking spaces, and that the commercial zone where the property is located is largely vacant on week-ends. ICFG argues that moving the Church to the Catalina property will enable the congregation to more fully follow their sincerely-held beliefs.
On March 24, 2006, the Church signed a purchase and sales agreement for the property, and paid $50,000, half of a nonrefundable fee applicable to the purchase price of $5.375 million. On March 31, 2006, the Church paid the other $50,000 of the nonrefundable fee.
At the time that ICFG identified the Catalina property as a potential site for the Church, the San Leandro Zoning Code ("the Zoning Code") did not allow "assembly uses"—churches and private or non-profit clubs, lodges, and organizations—to locate in the IP district or other industrial or commercial districts of the City, but did allow them to locate in districts zoned Residential ("R") if they obtained a conditional use permit.
On May 3, 2006, Church representatives met with City Planning Staff to discuss the Church's desire to use the Catalina property for religious activities. According to Debbie Pollart, who was then the City's Planning Director, Planning Staff advised the Church that under the Zoning Code, religious assembly uses were conditionally permitted uses in the City's R zoning district only, and that the Zoning Code did not permit assembly uses within the IP district.
Planning Staff further advised the Church representatives that in order for the Church to relocate to the Catalina property, two changes to the Zoning Code would be needed—amendment of the Zoning Code to make assembly a conditionally permitted use in the Industrial Limited ("IL") zoning district, and an amendment of the zoning map to designate the Catalina property as IL.
Planning Staff advised the Church to apply for rezoning from IP to IL because the IL zoning district was more amenable to assembly use than the IP zoning district. According to Ms. Pollart, this is because the IL district's purpose is to provide areas of low-to-moderate intensity industrial uses which are capable of being located adjacent to residential areas and serve as a buffer between residential areas and light industry. By contrast, the IP zoning designation is meant to serve commerce high technology, production and assembly, and retail and related uses.
In early May 2006, the Church filed a planning permit application for a zoning map amendment on the Catalina property from IP to IL, to allow a subsequent application for a conditional use permit for an assembly use. The application was received by the City on either May 18 or May 19, 2006. On the same day that ICFG filed the permit application, the Church signed an amendment to their purchase and sales agreement and paid a further $50,000 nonrefundable fee, applicable to the purchase price, to extend the agreement to July 6, 2006.
After receiving the Church's application to rezone the Catalina property from IP to IL, and to amend the Zoning Code to allow religious assembly use in the IL zoning district, Ms. Pollart and other Planning Staff began discussing some of the planning and policy issues raised by the Church's application. In particular, they began discussing issues relating to the need for consistency with the City's General Plan.
On June 8, 2006, the City Council's Business Development Committee (the Mayor of San Leandro plus two members of the San Leandro City Council) met and discussed the Church's application to use the Catalina property. They expressed concerns over the policy implications of allowing an assembly use in an industrial zone.
Ms. Pollart explains that an amendment to the text of the Zoning Code to allow assembly uses in the IL zone would apply to all properties zoned IL, and would therefore have City-wide implications. In the view of Planning Staff, the expansion of assembly uses outside of residential zoning districts would represent a major shift in policy regarding the location of assembly uses in the City.
Thus, the Church's rezoning application raised a broader policy issue for the City— determining which non-residential areas were appropriate for an expansion of assembly use. Planning Staff therefore advised the Church in a letter dated June 29, 2006, that the request would require careful analysis by Staff and consideration at public hearings by numerous civic advisory bodies, the Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning Adjustments, and, ultimately, the City Council, to ensure that any such change was consistent with the City's General Plan.1
According to Ms. Pollart, the potential for conflicts between industrial uses and assembly uses was a matter of particular concern, with a need to avoid unacceptable impacts such as noise, dust, or constant truck traffic on permitted assembly uses, as well as a need to minimize unacceptable constraints on industrial operations in order to avoid impacts on, or complaints from, permitted assembly uses. Of equal concern was the issue of potential displacement of industrial and commercial uses by assembly uses, and the resulting effects on the City's industrial employment and economic base.
The June 29, 2006, letter further advised that in light of "current staff commitments, vacation schedules, and the fact that the [Business Development] Subcommittee does not meet during the month of August, staff is anticipating returning to the Subcommittee with this matter in September." Thus, following submission of the application to the Planning Commission and the Redevelopment Advisory Commission, "[a] public hearing before the Planning Commission is anticipated in October/November, followed by the City Council hearing in November/December."
On July 11, 2006, the Church signed an amendment to the purchase and sales agreement and paid an additional $50,000 nonrefundable fee, applied to the purchase price, to extend the agreement to October 31, 2006.
On October 10, 2006, Church representatives addressed the City...
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Int'l Church of the Foursquare Gospel v. City of San Leandro
...of the Church's rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. On December 22, 2008, 632 F.Supp.2d 925 (N.D.Cal.2008) the court issued an order granting the City's motion for summary judgment and denying ICFG's cross-motion. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit ......
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Int'l Church of the Foursquare Gospel v. City of San Leandro
...to look for a larger property. In February 2006, the Church found a site located on two parcels at 14600 and 14850 Catalina Street in San Leandro (“the Catalina property”). The Catalina property is located in San Leandro's Industrial Park (“IP”) zoning district and is situated in the “West ......
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Int'l Church of The Foursquare Gospel v. City of San Leandro
...to look for a larger property. In February 2006, the Church found a site located on two parcels at 14600 and 14850 Catalina Street in San Leandro (“the Catalina property”). The Catalina property is located in San Leandro's Industrial Park (“IP”) zoning district and is situated in the “West ......