Church of Jesus Christ v. Jefferson County

• Decision Date: 07 February 1990
• Docket Number: No. CV89-PT-0711-S.,CV89-PT-0711-S.
• Citation: 741 F. Supp. 1522
• Parties: CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, Douglas Bennett, Finley Eversole, Frieda Eversole & Barry Seidel v. JEFFERSON COUNTY, John Katopodis, Chris McNair, David Orange, Reuben Davis & Jim Gunter.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

741 F. Supp. 1522

CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, Douglas Bennett, Finley Eversole, Frieda Eversole & Barry Seidel v. JEFFERSON COUNTY, John Katopodis, Chris McNair, David Orange, Reuben Davis & Jim Gunter.

No. CV89-PT-0711-S.

United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, S.D.

February 7, 1990.

Donald H. Brockway, Jr., Douglas P. Corretti, Mary D. Hawkins, James R. Scalco, Corretti & Newsom, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiffs.

Charles S. Wagner, Jeffrey Monroe Sewell, Asst. County Attys., Birmingham, Ala., for defendants.

PROPST, District Judge.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Findings of Fact

This cause came on to be heard at a bench trial. After considering the facts suggested by the parties, objections thereto, and the court's own copious notes, the court finds the following facts:

Plaintiff The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ("LDS") entered into a contract to purchase from plaintiffs Finley Eversole and Freida S. Eversole ("the Eversoles") a parcel of real estate containing approximately eleven acres located at the northwest corner of Altadena Road and Cahaba River Road (Old U.S. Highway 280 — Florida Short Route) in an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Alabama. Said tract of land adjoins a single family residential subdivision, and is relatively near U.S. Highway 280 (a four lane highway), and Interstate Highway I-459 and is approximately one-fourth mile from the Alabama State Offices of South Central Bell (Colonnade)¹ and the Colonnade commercial, office and retail development and, along with the surrounding properties, is zoned E-1 (Estate District) by Jefferson County, Alabama. The eleven acre Eversole tract is a part of the Altadena residential estate neighborhood. The general character of the Altadena area is estate type residential usage from the intersection of Altadena Road with Cahaba River Road west for at least a distance of two miles. There is no commercial, industrial, or other public use of land immediately and contiguously adjacent to the subject property. It is completely surrounded by E-1 and single family residential use and zoning.

LDS and plaintiffs Barry W. Seidel and Douglas Bennett applied to defendant Jefferson County for a rezoning of the land from E-1 to Inst.-1 (Institutional District) so that the land could be developed and used as and for a place of worship for LDS and its members. The neighbors formed a group which opposed the rezoning. Their opposition was based on the fact that they were there first and had a right to rely on the E-1 zoning and did not want a church on the property because it could affect the appearance and value of their residences.²

The preponderance of the evidence is that LDS has suggested a plan, or would be willing to acquiesce in conditions, which would adequately satisfy all governmental site preparation concerns including traffic, sanitary waste disposal, storm water drainage, greenbelt and buffer zones, aesthetics and off street parking, lighting and signage. In any event, the zoning change was not denied on any premise related to site preparation or "state" concerns. LDS has indicated a willingness to exceed Inst.-1 criteria and standards. The property could be relatively shielded from surrounding residences by trees, etc. It is large enough to accommodate significant development.

The Planning Staff of Jefferson County recommended that LDS's zoning application was appropriate. The Planning Staff's recommendation was submitted to the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission and, after a public hearing, the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended that the Jefferson County Commission rezone the land from its E-1 zoning classification to an Inst.-1 zoning classification.

The Jefferson County Commission, following a public hearing wherein there was vociferous opposition from the Altadena neighborhood, denied LDS's rezoning application by a vote of three to two. Commissioners John Katopodis and Jim Gunter voted in favor. Commissioner Katopodis knew of no reason that would justify denial. Commissioners David Orange, Reuben Davis, and Chris McNair voted against. Commissioner Orange made no inquiry of his staff nor did he compare the proposed development with the County's minimum Inst.-1 requirements prior to voting against the rezoning. Commissioner Orange did visit the site with J. Reese Johnston, a resident of the neighborhood who opposed the rezoning, and is also an attorney who is employed by Jefferson County as its lobbyist. Commissioner Davis did not know about the staff or the Planning and Zoning Commission recommendations at the time he voted on LDS's rezoning application. Commissioner Davis voted the "will of the people" regardless of other evidence and was swayed primarily, if not solely, by the voiced opposition. Commissioner Davis testified that until this case he didn't know that churches couldn't go anywhere. He further testified that he thinks churches should go anywhere "unless will of people oppose." Further, that if, the people don't want it, "the church shouldn't want to be there." Commissioner McNair voted against the rezoning because the people opposing the rezoning were there first, and he believed their feelings should be given consideration. No Commissioner voted against the measure because of concerns about "state" factors, such as site preparation, etc.

If there had been no opposition, the rezoning request would likely have been approved. Implicit in the vote is that the "no" voters acquiesced in neighborhood concerns about having a church in their area which could, in the neighbors' judgment, affect the appearance of the area and the value of their properties.

Mr. O.C. Moon, the Jefferson County Land and Zoning Administrator, testified that his observation has been that most decisions on the application of churches for an Inst.-1 classification have been based on the degree of opposition. There is some inference that the degree of opposition is proportionate to the value of the surrounding residences.³ The court reaches no conclusion as to the effect of this phenomenon on the "burden" on religion. Mr. Moon also suggested that the compatibility of churches with a neighborhood often depended on the feeling of the neighborhood.

Approximately six months prior to filing the subject rezoning application on the approximate eleven acre subject tract, LDS applied to rezone a tract of land containing approximately five acres located on the south side of Dolly Ridge Road, a short distance from the subject tract, from its E-1 zoning classification to the Inst.-1 zoning classification so that same could be used as and for a place of worship for LDS and its members. The Dolly Ridge site received an unfavorable recommendation by the Jefferson County Planning Staff and the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission. Jefferson County denied rezoning of the Dolly Ridge tract with one of its Commissioners, David Orange, voting in favor of such rezoning. Commissioners Katopodis, Davis, Gunter and McNair voted against it. Someone on the Commission suggested, after the Dolly Ridge rejection, that LDS come back with a larger tract located on the fringe of a single family residential development. The Eversoles, owners of the eleven acre tract involved in the instant case, were approached by plaintiffs Barry Seidel and the LDS Church after denial of the "Dolly Ridge Road" request. They entered into a contingent sales contract of the subject property to the church, conditioned on the existing E-1 zoning being changed to the Inst.-1 zoning classification to permit the construction of a church thereon. The Eversole property has been used continuously for residential estate purposes from at least the early 1940's to the present day. The Eversoles occupy the single family dwelling on the property. The present rezoning request was for a tract more than twice as large as the Dolly Ridge tract.⁴ The denial of the subject request was not based on objective standards, but simply reflected a vote based on the "will of the people." If there had been no opposition, the rezoning would have likely been granted.

LDS has outgrown its present Church facility. The present Church facility does not satisfy the needs of LDS and it cannot be reasonably enlarged to do so. The individually named plaintiffs and all members of the First Ward of the LDS Church have continuously practiced their religious beliefs at their current location in Mountain Brook, Alabama, during the zoning application process and legal appeals which are still pending. LDS has, as a central tenet of its faith, the need to assemble together and strengthen the faith of each other and to partake of communion. Book of Mormon 43, Verse 8. LDS has as an integral part of its faith the need to gather under one roof to express its strength in unity and to gain strength to express its individual faith. Book of Mormon 59, Verse 9. LDS's ritual requires assembly to create a sense of community among its members and to communicate the Church's identity as a group devoted to a common ideal. The LDS ritual preserves, evidences and perpetuates its faith.⁵ LDS has no church or place of worship in the unincorporated area of Jefferson County. The LDS Church and its members have no fundamental tenets or principal beliefs which require them to construct a place of worship on the eleven acre Eversole tract.⁶ Within the First Ward of the LDS Church in Birmingham, lie the municipalities of Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood and Hoover. There is no evidence that any significant effort has been made to relocate the LDS Church in one of those municipalities.

In January 1985, Jefferson County rezoned a fifty-eight acre tract of land on Altadena Road which was originally zoned E-1, R-1 (Residential) and A-1 (Agricultural), for use by Briarwood Presbyterian Church as a place of worship, with a sanctuary containing 3,500 seats, and as a...