Grace Community Church v. Lenox Tp.

• Citation: 544 F.3d 609
• Decision Date: 10 October 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-2509.,07-2509.
• Parties: GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LENOX TOWNSHIP, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

544 F.3d 609

GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LENOX TOWNSHIP, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 07-2509.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: September 15, 2008.

Decided and Filed: October 10, 2008.

ARGUED: Daniel P. Dalton, Tomkiw Dalton, Royal Oak, Michigan, for Appellant. Thomas J. McGraw, Kupelian, Ormond & Magy, Southfield, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Daniel P. Dalton, Tomkiw Dalton, Royal Oak, Michigan, for Appellant. Thomas J. McGraw, D. Randall Gilmer, Kupelian, Ormond & Magy, Southfield, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: GUY, RYAN, and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge.

Grace Community Church applied for and was granted a special land use permit by the Lenox Township Planning Commission to operate a residential facility for religious instruction and spiritual counseling. The special use permit included certain restrictions. A month later, the Planning Commission, faced with evidence that the restrictions had been violated, revoked the permit. Instead of attempting to rebut or explain the evidence or appealing the revocation to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Grace Community Church filed suit. The complaint challenges the revocation as a violation of the Church's rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc et seq., and as a denial of equal protection. The district court awarded summary judgment to the Township, concluding the action was not ripe, as the Church had failed to exhaust administrative remedies and obtain a final decision before filing suit.

On appeal, Grace Church contends exhaustion is not prerequisite to enforcement of rights under the RLUIPA, relying primarily on DiLaura v. Ann Arbor Twp., 30 Fed.Appx. 501 (6th Cir.2002). For the reasons that follow, we find no error and therefore affirm the district court's judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

Grace Community Church is located in Lenox Township, Macomb County, approximately 30 miles north of Detroit. The Church is pastored by Reverend William Pacey, an ordained minister of the Anchor Bay Evangelistic Association. Rev. Pacey established Grace Community Church in 1996 "to provide a place of worship for those who `just didn't fit in' to a normal church setting." Pacey aff. at ¶ 3, JA 317. Grace Community Church views people's emotional and substance abuse problems as stemming from a strained personal relationship with God. Id. at ¶¶ 6-7. To assist people in learning to trust God, the Church began operating residential programs at various sites. In 2004, the Church purchased property on 30 Mile Road in Lenox Township that had previously been home to a Catholic monastery and later, a residential nursing care facility. The Church intended to consolidate its worship and residential counseling ministries under one roof.

The Church applied to the Lenox Township Planning Commission for a special land use permit in early 2005. In June 2005, the Commission approved the application for operation of the Church, but withheld action regarding the residential facility pending receipt of further information from Rev. Pacey and consideration of appropriate conditions. At its August 22, 2005 meeting, the Commission granted the permit for operation of the residential program, the Christian Discipleship Center, subject to various conditions. The conditions included requirements, inter alia: that residents be pre-screened to determine that they are of a "desirable nature" and pose no danger to the surrounding community; that the facility not be used as a halfway house or to house persons undergoing alcohol or drug rehabilitation; and that, in the event of a complaint suggesting a violation of the conditions, a representative of the Church appear before the Commission to show cause why the permit should not be revoked.

At its very next meeting, on September 26, 2005, the Commission received information to the effect that, contrary to assurances given by Rev. Pacey, substance abuse counseling was being provided at the Christian Discipleship Center on 30 Mile Road. The information came in the form of a report from the Township attorney, Terry Welch, who had been advised of a complaint received by the Macomb County Sheriff. The Sheriff's Department had received the complaint from Ronald Riggi, whose nineteen year-old daughter Robin, had been released from the Macomb County Jail and referred by local District Judge Denis R. LeDuc to Grace Community Church for substance abuse counseling. Riggi and his daughter had met with Rev. Pacey at the 30 Mile Road site. Riggi had paid the $250 application fee charged by Rev. Pacey with the understanding that his daughter would receive substance abuse counseling. When Riggi learned that his daughter had not received any substance abuse counseling during her first week in the program, Riggi confronted Rev. Pacey. This confrontation led to the termination of Robin's participation in the program and to Riggi's complaint to the Sheriff's Department about "possible fraudulent or suspicious activities." Welch also reported that when this information was conveyed to Township officials, Planning Commission member Karen Kurchi undertook an internet search and found several descriptions of Grace House in New Haven (adjacent to Lenox Township) as a halfway house or ¾-way house assisting people in overcoming emotional and physical addictions.

In response to this information, Rev. Pacey refused to comment on the incident with Ronald Riggi and his daughter. He maintained, however, that he had not provided any substance abuse counseling at the 30 Mile Road site and that the special use permit conditions placed on Grace Community Church (without mentioning those imposed on the Christian Discipleship Center) had been met. One of the Commission members thereupon made a motion to revoke the special use permit for the Christian Discipleship Center, which carried with little discussion.

The Church made no attempt to obtain reconsideration of the revocation decision, did not apply for reinstatement of the special use permit, and did not appeal the revocation decision to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Almost one year later, Grace Community Church commenced this action by filing its complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan on August 7, 2006. The complaint names Lenox Township as defendant and contains four counts, including claims under RLUIPA and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a claim for denial of equal protection, and a claim for damages based on unconstitutional taking and tortious interference with economic advantage.

After the claim for relief under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was voluntarily dismissed, both parties filed motions for summary judgment. The Township moved for summary judgment on all three remaining claims contending they should be dismissed for lack of ripeness. The Church moved for partial summary judgment contending it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on its claim under RLUIPA. The district court conducted a hearing on the motions on August 28, 2007 and issued its ruling three days later, granting the Township's motion and denying the Church's. The court reasoned that the Church, by failing to pursue its remedies with the Zoning Board of Appeals, failed to obtain a final decision on its entitlement to the permit. The court therefore dismissed the action as unripe, without prejudice.

In conjunction with the summary judgment ruling, the court also denied the Church's motion to compel disclosure of attorney-client letters that had been inadvertently and temporarily disclosed by the Township to the Church in discovery. The court concluded that the Township, despite the inadvertent disclosure, had not waived the attorney-client privilege. The Church moved for reconsideration of both adverse rulings, which motion was denied on November 2, 2007. This timely appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

In dismissing the action for lack of ripeness, the district court granted the Township's motion for summary judgment. The court of appeals reviews de novo an order granting summary judgment. Johnson v. Karnes, 398 F.3d 868, 873 (6th Cir.2005). Summary judgment "should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

B. RLUIPA Claim

Grace Community Church does not argue there is a genuine fact dispute that precludes summary judgment, but rather contends the district court erred as a matter of law in its evaluation of ripeness. The Church relies heavily on an unpublished decision, DiLaura v. Ann Arbor Charter Twp., 30 Fed.Appx. 501 (6th Cir. 2002). In DiLaura, an RLUIPA claim brought via 42 U.S.C. § 1983 was held to be sufficiently ripe to be justiciable even though the plaintiffs had not exhausted available administrative remedies and even though the defendant township had not threatened to enforce its ordinance. Id. at 504-05.

The DiLaura RLUIPA claim grew out of a request to use a large house as a religious retreat house, for prayer and fellowship. The request was denied by the township zoning officer because the proposed use was not within the residential uses authorized under the zoning ordinance. The DiLauras then applied for a variance before the Zoning Board of Appeals, which was denied. They then filed suit. After the district court dismissed the action for lack of ripeness, the Sixth Circuit reversed, holding that the Zoning Board of Appeals' denial was a sufficiently final decision and the DiLauras were not obliged to also apply for a conditional use permit before seeking redress in court. Id. The court also held that the threat of significant penalties, in the event the DiLauras began operating the retreat house without permission, represented sufficient hardship to make out a...