Eagle Cove Camp v. Town of Woodboro

• Decision Date: 30 October 2013
• Docket Number: No. 13–1274.,13–1274.
• Citation: 734 F.3d 673
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
• Parties: EAGLE COVE CAMP & CONFERENCE CENTER, INC., et al., Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. TOWN OF WOODBORO, WISCONSIN, Oneida County, Wisconsin, and Oneida County Board of Adjustment, Defendants–Appellees.

734 F.3d 673

EAGLE COVE CAMP & CONFERENCE CENTER, INC., et al., Plaintiffs–Appellants,

v.TOWN OF WOODBORO, WISCONSIN, Oneida County, Wisconsin, and Oneida County Board of Adjustment, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 13–1274.

United States Court of Appeals,Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 10, 2013.

Decided Oct. 30, 2013.

Roman Storzer, Storzer & Greene, New York, NY, Robert Leo Greene, Jr., Storzer & Greene, Washington, DC, Robert Leo Greene, Jr., Roman Storzer, for Plaintiffs–Appellants.

Andrew A. Jones, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Milwaukee, WI, for Defendants–Appellees.

Before KANNE, WILLIAMS, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

Eagle Cove Camp & Conference Center, Inc. (“Eagle Cove”) appeals from the district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the Town of Woodboro, (“Woodboro”) Oneida County and the Oneida County Board of Adjusters (collectively “the County”). Eagle Cove alleged that Woodboro and the County's land use regulations, which prohibit them from running a year-round Bible camp on residentially zoned property, violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and the Wisconsin Constitution. Eagle Cove also sought state certiorari review under Wisconsin Statute § 59.694(10). For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the decision of the district court.

I. Background

A. The Town of Woodboro and Oneida County

Woodboro comprises approximately 750 residents and about 21,857 acres of land. Oneida County has 708,751 acres of land. Squash Lake is partially located in Woodboro. Pursuant to Wisconsin Statute § 60.62(1), Woodboro adopted a Land Use Plan in 1998, which seeks to “encourage low density single family residential development for its lake-and river-front properties.” (R. 63–20 at 9.) The plan incorporated a survey Woodboro took that found the majority of the residents desired to maintain the town's rural and rustic character. In 2009, Woodboro adopted a Comprehensive Plan in accordance with Wisconsin Statute § 66.1001 that incorporates the aforementioned language.

The zoning around Squash Lake reflects the goals set forth in the plans and the survey. There are one hundred seventy-seven parcels of real estate on Squash Lake, and all but seven are zoned for single-family uses. The seven parcels that are not zoned for single-family use are zoned for business and were grandfathered into the zoning plan as pre-existing uses during the initial zoning in 1976.

On May 8, 2001, Woodboro voluntarily subjected itself to the Oneida County Zoning and Shoreland Protection Ordinance (“OCZSPO”), which establishes zoning districts throughout the County. Towns must elect to be subordinate to the OCZSPO's provisions. In doing so, they relinquish zoning authority to the County.

According to the OCZSPO, religious land uses are permitted throughout the County and Woodboro. Year-round recreational and seasonal camps are permitted on thirty-six and seventy-two percent of the County, respectively. In addition, churches and religious schools are allowed on sixty percent of the land in the County. Churches and schools are permitted on nearly forty-three percent of the land in Woodboro and campgrounds (religious or secular) on approximately fifty-seven percent.

B. The Proposed Bible Camp

Eagle Cove sought to construct a Bible camp on thirty-four acres of property that they own on Squash Lake in Woodboro. Eagle Cove believes that their religion mandates that the Bible camp must be on the subject property. Eagle Cove also believes that they must operate the Bible camp on a year-round basis. Neither of these beliefs is in dispute.

The subject property's eastern parcels are zoned Single Family Residential and the western parcels are zoned Residential and Farming. As the OCZSPO states, “The purpose of the Single Family Residential District is to provide an area of quiet seclusion for families. This is the County's most restrictive residential zoning classification. Motor vehicle traffic should be infrequent and people few.” (R. 63–1 at 12.) The land was not specifically purchased for the construction of the proposed camp and has been owned by the same family since 1942.

C. Petition for Rezoning and Conditional Use Permit

On December 13, 2005, Eagle Cove filed a petition with Oneida County to rezone the subject property to a Recreational zoning district. The general reason provided for the rezoning was to permit construction of a Bible camp. The OCZSPO does not permit year-round recreational camps in Single Family Residential zoning districts. The County sent a copy of the rezone petition to Woodboro for its consideration on the matter. Beginning in February 2006, Woodboro held a series of meetings on the rezoning petition. After much discussion, Woodboro recommended that the County deny the petition. It found that the recreational camp was not consistent with the goals of maintaining the rural and rustic character of Woodboro and would conflict with the existing single-family development surrounding Squash Lake.

Following this recommendation, the County held several meetings and hearings regarding the zoning petition. The County denied the rezoning petition on the grounds that it would conflict with the majority single-family usage on Squash Lake and land use regulations set forth in the Woodboro Land Use Plan.

In doing so, the County considered the implications of RLUIPA and whether a denial would hinder Eagle Cove's right to exercise their religion on the subject property. It found that a religious school or church could be constructed under existing zoning, that Eagle Cove could achieve its goals without rezoning by applying for a conditional use permit, and that the proposed Bible camp directly conflicted with the Single Family Residential zoning around Squash Lake. By resolution adopted on August 15, 2006, the County accepted the recommendation of the County Zoning Committee and denied the rezone petition.

In 2008, Eagle Cove sought to obtain a conditional use permit (“CUP”) to construct its proposed Bible camp on the subject property. If permitted, the CUP would allow Eagle Cove to construct its Bible camp without requiring rezoning of the subject property. Eagle Cove attached an “Overall Site Plan” with the application, which included plans for a lodge in excess of 106,000 square feet. The proposed Bible camp would have a maximum capacity of 348 campers and also accommodate 60 people in outdoor camping sites.

Woodboro recommended that the County deny the CUP application. The Zoning Committee issued a staff report detailing its reasons for denying the application. Once again, the report found that the proposed Bible camp did not conform to the zoning goals in the district. It also stated that the proposed use was incompatible with the single-family residential use of adjacent land to the subject property, the purposes and nature of the Single Family Residential district, and Woodboro's 2009 Comprehensive Plan. The County Zoning Committee agreed with the report and denied the CUP application. Finally, Eagle Cove appealed to the Oneida County Board of Adjusters, which also found that the proposed use was impermissible.

D. District Court Proceedings

On March 10, 2010, Eagle Cove filed an action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. They filed an amended complaint on April 27, 2010, and asserted that the land use regulations by Woodboro and Oneida County deprived Eagle Cove of rights set forth under various provisions in RLUIPA, the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Wisconsin Constitution. They also petitioned for a writ of certiorari to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. All parties moved for summary judgment.

The district court granted summary judgment for the County and Woodboro on all counts.¹

The district court found that the RLUIPA total exclusion claim lacked merit as neither the County nor the Town prohibited religious assemblies in their jurisdictions. It found that Eagle Cove could use their land for religious assembly, albeit not in the form of a year-round Bible camp. Citing our opinion in Vision Church v. Village of Long Grove, the district court held that the total exclusion provision of RLUIPA requires the complete and total exclusion of activity protected by the First Amendment, not just prohibition of a certain type of religious activity. 468 F.3d 975, 989–90 (7th Cir.2007). The district court went on to disagree with Eagle Cove's contention that Woodboro itself exercises jurisdiction over the land use regulations within its borders, finding that Woodboro has only an advisory role in the overall process and that it is the County that exercises jurisdiction over the land use regulations on the subject property.

In considering Eagle Cove's unreasonable limitation claim under RLUIPA, the district court found that Eagle Cove's proposed use of implementing a year-round Bible camp would be permitted in thirty-six percent of Oneida County and that seasonal recreational camps would be permitted on seventy-two percent of the County. Additionally, Woodboro's planning scheme allows for seasonal recreational camps on roughly fifty-seven percent of its land. The County and Woodboro did not unreasonably limit religious assemblies in their respective jurisdictions, but rather, Eagle Cove's insistence on locating the year-round camp on the subject property impeded the exercise of their religious beliefs.

The district court next addressed Eagle Cove's RLUIPA substantial burden claim. Despite the fact that Eagle Cove has spent considerable amounts of time and resourceson the various permits described above, the district court found that this did not entitle them to relief under the substantial burden provision of RLUIPA. It held that simply having a religious purpose...