New Life Evangelistic Ctr. v. City of St. Louis, ED 105737

• Decision Date: 25 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. ED 105737,ED 105737
• Citation: 564 S.W.3d 665
• Parties: NEW LIFE EVANGELISTIC CENTER, Appellant/Cross-Respondent, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS, et al., Respondents, and Confluence Academy, Inc., Respondent/Cross-Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

564 S.W.3d 665

NEW LIFE EVANGELISTIC CENTER, Appellant/Cross-Respondent,

v.CITY OF ST. LOUIS, et al., Respondents,andConfluence Academy, Inc., Respondent/Cross-Appellant.

No. ED 105737

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, DIVISION FOUR.

Filed: September 25, 2018

Application for Transfer to Supreme Court Denied November 5, 2018

Application for Transfer to Supreme Court Denied January 29, 2018

Todd A. Lubben, 800 Market St. Ste. 1100, St. Louis, MO 63101, For Appellant/Cross-Respondent.

Michael A. Garvin, Erin K. McGowan, 1200 Market St., City Hall Room 314, St. Louis, MO 63103, For Respondent City of St. Louis.

Matthew M. Moak, 1200 Market St., City Hall Room 314, St. Louis, MO 63103, For Respondent Board of Building Appeals.

Kenneth C. Brostron, Brian J. Malone, 714 Locust St., St. Louis, MO 63101, For Respondent City of St. Louis Public Library.

Margaret A. Hesse, 34 N. Meramec Ave. Ste. 600, St. Louis, MO 63105, For Respondent/Cross-Appellant.

Elkin L. Kistner, Sean M. Elam, 101 S. Hanley Rd. Ste. 101, Clayton, MO 63105, For Respondents.

OPINION

Colleen Dolan, J.

New Life Evangelistic Center ("New Life") appeals the judgment of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis affirming the decision of the Board of Building Appeals of the City of St. Louis (the "BBA") that affirmed the denial of New Life’s request for an exemption to the plat-and-petition requirement that must be fulfilled in order to obtain a permit and license to operate a homeless shelter in the City of St. Louis (the "City"), pursuant to St. Louis City Code Chapter 25.32.510.¹ New Life raises five points on appeal.² In its first point, New Life argues that the BBA erred in affirming the underlying decision that New Life must satisfy the plat-and-petition requirement. New Life specifically argues that the requirement does not apply to it because New Life is a "church" seeking an occupancy permit for its homeless shelter and the plat-and-petition requirement only applies to "hotels, dormitories, rooming houses or boarding houses seeking a license." In its second point, New Life asserts that the BBA erred in affirming the underlying decision because City Code Chapter 25.32.510, § 903.1 is unconstitutionally vague and ambiguous as applied by the BBA.³ In its third point, New Life contends that the BBA erred in affirming the underlying decision because its findings of fact and conclusions of law were unsupported by competent and substantial evidence. In its fourth point, New Life argues that the BBA erred in affirming the underlying decision because the plat-and-petition requirement contained in § 903.1 unconstitutionally delegates the City’s legislative authority in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause. And in its fifth point, New Life asserts that the BBA erred in affirming the underlying decision because the plat-and-petition requirement of § 903.1 violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA").⁴ Specifically, New Life argues that the plat-and-petition requirement substantially burdens New Life’s religious exercise, that the City failed to demonstrate the requirement served a compelling government interest, and that the City failed to show the requirement was the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. Additionally, Confluence Academy, Inc. ("Confluence Academy") cross-appeals the circuit court’s judgment affirming the BBA’s order, offering four points on appeal arguing that the BBA erred in granting New Life’s request for an exemption to the school spacing requirement of § 903.1.

We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

I. Factual and Procedural Background Revocation of New Life’s 1976 Hotel Permit

New Life owns the building located at 1411 Locust Street in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, and has used that building for religious practices since 1976. In addition to using the building for church services, New Life utilizes the building as a shelter for the homeless (the "Shelter"); New Life also offers other resources to the local homeless population, including assistance with transportation, groceries, medical prescriptions, clothing, and case management. New Life claims it has offered shelter to the homeless at 1411 Locust Street in various fashions since 1976, but, pertinent to this case, was issued a "hotel permit" with a 32-occupant limit by the City in March of 1976. The hotel permit for the Shelter was grandfathered into subsequent ordinances and zoning plans enacted by the City, and New Life operated the Shelter under that permit until May 12, 2015, when its permit was revoked by the City’s Board of Public Service.

The Board of Public Service revoked New Life’s permit for the Shelter after a majority of property owners and occupants filed a petition to have the permit revoked, alleging that the Shelter had become a detriment to the neighborhood because, instead of complying with the 32-occupant limit of the Shelter’s permit, New Life was regularly accepting approximately 300 occupants every night. The petitioners went on to assert that New Life would require its homeless guests to leave the Shelter by 7 a.m. every morning; many of the Shelter’s homeless guests would stay in the immediate neighborhood so that they might again be admitted into the Shelter that night. After hearing extensive testimony and reviewing voluminous documentary evidence, the Board of Public Service concluded that the Shelter had become a detriment to the surrounding neighborhood. In support of its decision to revoke the permit, the Board of Public Service cited numerous factors, including: a high concentration of homeless guests from the Shelter loitering in the immediate vicinity during the day after being ejected by New Life; common, almost daily, instances of public drunkenness and drug use by New Life guests after they were released into the neighborhood; frequent public urination, drug transactions, fighting, and public sex acts occurring inside and around the Shelter; the Shelter’s geographic location was proximate to a school, Confluence Academy, and the City of St. Louis Municipal Library (the "Library"); and New Life was unwilling to cooperate with police officers' and the neighborhood’s efforts to improve conditions around the Shelter. New Life did not seek judicial review of the decision by the Board of Public Service pursuant to Missouri statute § 536.110⁵ ; instead, New Life attempted to challenge the decision in federal court in New Life Evangelistic Ctr., Inc. v. City of St. Louis, 2015 WL 6509338 (E.D. Mo. Oct. 27, 2015). The federal district court dismissed New Life’s claims without prejudice, finding that its federal claims were not ripe for adjudication (as New Life could either appeal the Board of Public Service’s order to the BBA or file an application for a new permit that would allow the Shelter to admit more occupants) and it declined to exercise jurisdiction over New Life’s state law claims. Id. at *7.

New Life’s Application for a Permit and License to Operate a Homeless Shelter

Rather than appeal the Board of Public Service’s decision, New Life filed an application for a new permit and license on July 29, 2015, which would allow it to operate a homeless shelter able to house up to 325 occupants. Under § 903.1, which was not in effect when New Life was granted its 1976 permit, the operation of "a hotel, dormitory, rooming house or boarding house without first obtaining a permit and license" is unlawful; City Code Chapter 25.32.510, § 901.2 specially clarifies that "[s]helters for the homeless ... shall be subject to all conditions of this Chapter." Additionally, § 903.1 further states that:

An applicant for a license to operate a dormitory, rooming house, boarding house or hotel, together with all other requirements of this Chapter, shall also file a plat or drawing showing its location or premises together with the position of the building to be used thereon and a written petition in favor of the issuance of such license signed by a majority of the persons, if any, occupying the premises or conducting any business on the main floor within the prescribed petition circle drawn by a radius of five hundred (500) feet plus one-half (½) of the width of the front of the premises, from the center of such premises projected to the streets....

This requisite that the applicant file a plat of the premises and a petition of the surrounding persons occupying or conducting a business is generally called the "plat-and-petition requirement." Section 903.1 also generally prohibits the approval of such an application if a church, elementary school, or secondary school is located within the aforementioned radius; this is commonly referred to as the "school spacing requirement."

Upon filing its application for its new homeless shelter permit and license, New Life did not submit a written petition with the signatures of a majority of the surrounding occupants and business proprietors. New Life claims that it was seeking, and only required, an "occupancy permit," rather than a "license," and thus did not have to comply with the plat-and-petition or school spacing requirements. After being notified that it would be required to comply with both requirements, New Life sought exemptions from the City building commissioner, who may discretionarily grant exemptions to City Code requirements pursuant to City Code Chapter 25.32.020, §§ 104.1 and 105.2 when a "special individual reason makes the strict letter of this code impractical...." The reviewing building commissioner was familiar with the reasons why the Board of Public Service revoked New Life’s 1976 hotel permit. He determined New Life had not effectively implemented changes since the revocation that mitigated the Shelter’s detrimental effects on the neighborhood, yet New Life’s new application sought to increase the number of beds ten-fold, from 32 to 325. The building commissioner denied New Life’s request for exemptions from both the...