Parish v. Bd. Of Zoning Appeals Of The City Of Richmond

• Citation: 946 F. Supp. 1225
• Decision Date: 26 November 1996
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 3:96cv930.
• Parties: STUART CIRCLE PARISH, et al., Plaintiffs, v. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

946 F. Supp. 1225

STUART CIRCLE PARISH, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:96cv930.

United States District Court

E.D. Virginia

Richmond Division.

Date: November 26, 1996.

William H. Sooy, Richmond, VA, for plaintiffs.

Keith A. May, Elizabeth B. Stutts, Office of the City Attorney, Richmond, VA, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PAYNE, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is granted.

I. Procedural History

The plaintiff, Stuart Circle Parish, is a partnership comprised of six churches of different denominations located within about five blocks of each other in the Stuart Circle area of the City of Richmond. One of those churches is First English Evangelical Lutheran Church ("First English Church"). The Reverend Richard A. Olson, another plaintiff, is the pastor of First English Church. The Stuart Circle Parish provides a Meal Ministry which offers worship, hospitality, pastoral care, and a healthful meal to the urban poor of Richmond on Sunday afternoons from 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. The Meal Ministry is conducted at First English Church because it has the largest parish hall and the best facilities for the conduct of the Meal Ministry of the six constituent churches in Stuart Circle Parish. Approximately one hundred people, some homeless, some not, but nonetheless needy, participate in the Meal Ministry every Sunday. The formal ministry in this case began about 15 years ago at Pace Memorial Methodist Church, one of the member churches of Stuart Circle Parish. The program outgrew Pace Memorial, and about six months ago it was decided to operate the ministry at First English Church.

Members of each constituent church participate in offering and conducting Sunday afternoon ministry which consists of prayer, worship, fellowship, and a meal. The guests at the service circulate through the facility so that not all persons are present at the same time. However, to facilitate the worship atmosphere, the meal is served to participants at tables by parishioners, not cafeteria style. Often the meal is accompanied by informal Bible study and informal counselling.

The City's Zoning Administrator ("Administrator") received complaints from neighbors of First English Church. The complaints were about unruly behavior, public urination and noise in the area. The City's evidence did not establish where or when these acts occurred or that they were performed by those served by the Meal Ministry. Based upon an investigation which ensued from the complaints, the Administrator determined that the Meal Ministry was feeding more than thirty persons on a regular basis and found that to be in violation of the Richmond City Zoning Ordinance ("Code"). According to the Zoning Administrator, the Meal Ministry violates a section of the Code which limits feeding and housing programs for the homeless within churches to no more than thirty homeless individuals for up to seven days between the months of October and April. Id. § 32-402.2(9).

The Stuart Circle Parish appealed the Administrator's determination. But, on November 6, 1996, the Board of Zoning Appeals ("BZA") upheld the Administrator's determination. Rather than appealing the BZA's decision to the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, which may be done by plaintiffs as a matter of right, plaintiffs brought this action, seeking temporary and permanent injunctive relief from the BZA's decision to apply the Code to the Meal Ministry. The Complaint alleges that the application of the Code to the plaintiffs violates their rights to the free exercise of religion as protected by the First Amendment and by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb et seq. ("RFRA"). RFRA provides that a government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion unless it demonstrates that application of the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1. Plaintiffs view the Meal Ministry as the physical embodiment of a central tenet of the Christian faith, ministering to the poor, the hungry and the homeless in thecommunity. And, they assert that the City has not shown a compelling state interest for burdening the exercise of this central tenet by the members and pastors of the six churches which compromise Stuart Circle Parish.

II. The Richmond City Code

The Code provides that churches or other places of worship are permitted principal uses in residential districts. Richmond City Code § 32-401.1.¹ The Code does not define the term "church, " or the religious activity conducted therein. Instead, the Code affords undefined terms, such as "church" and "places of worship, " their usual dictionary meaning. Plaintiffs assert that their participation in the Meal Ministry is within the usual reach of the terms church and places of worship, and thus constitutes a permissible principal use in the R-6 district in which First English is located. The Zoning Administrator and the BZA, however, view the situation differently. First, the Administrator and the BZA contend that the services provided by the Meal Ministry constitute a non-permitted use of the church for which a conditional use permit is required. Second, they maintain that the Meal Ministry is a "feeding program" which must be conducted in compliance with the Code's restrictions. Specifically, Section 32-402.2 of the Code provides that:

Accessory uses and structures, including the following which are customarily incidental and clearly subordinate to permitted principal uses, shall be permitted in the R-1 District:... (9) Temporary feeding and housing of not more than thirty (30) homeless individuals within churches or other places of worship, subject to meeting applicable building code and fire code requirements, for up to a total of seven (7) days and only within the time period beginning on October 1 of any year and ending on April 1 of the following year; provided, however, that for the period October 1, 1991, through April 1, 1992, such persons shall be allowed to stay for up to thirty (30) days.

According to the Complaint and plaintiffs' briefs, the application of either interpretation of the Code to the plaintiffs creates a substantial burden on the free exercise of their religion, offending the First Amendment and RFRA.

III. Abstention

Defendants urge the Court to abstain from deciding whether the application of the zoning code to the Meal Ministry offends the plaintiffs' rights whether under RFRA or the First Amendment.

A. Younger Abstention

Abstention under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971), requires: "(i) that there is a pending state judicial proceeding; (ii) that the action implicates important state interests; and (iii) that there is an adequate opportunity for the plaintiff to raise federal constitutional claims in a state forum." National Home Ins. Co. v. State Corp. Comm'n, 838 F.Supp. 1104, 1117 (E.D.Va.1993) (citing Middlesex Ethics Comm. v. Garden State Bar Ass'n, 457 U.S. 423, 432, 102 S.Ct. 2515, 2521, 73 L.Ed.2d 116 (1982)). Both parties concede that the BZA was not authorized to consider constitutional challenges to the Code, that the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond is generally limited to reviewing the record before the BZA, and that a prima facie presumption exists that the BZA properly exercised its discretion. Even if the state court decided to take additional evidence, it could not decide the constitutional or statutory rights here presented by plaintiffs. Hence, in the present action, there exists no adequate opportunity for the plaintiffs to raise their federal claims in a state forum. Thus, the court will not exercise its discretion to abstain under Younger.

B. Pullman Abstention

Abstention is also inappropriate under the Pullman doctrine. In Railroad Commission of Texas v. Pullman, 312 U.S. 496, 61 S.Ct. 643, 85 L.Ed. 971 (1941), plaintiffs brought suit in federal court, alleging that an order promulgated by the Texas Railroad Commission was unauthorized by Texas law as well as violative of the Equal Protection, Due Process and Commerce Clauses of the Constitution. The Supreme Court held that, because the complaint "tendered a substantial constitutional issue, " which "touched upon a sensitive area of social policy, " the federal courts should not decide the issue unless "no alternative to its adjudication is open. Such constitutional adjudication plainly can be avoided if a definitive ruling on the state issue would terminate the controversy." Pullman, 312 U.S. at 498, 61 S.Ct. at 644. With regard to the state law issues raised by the plaintiffs in the Pullman case, the Supreme Court voiced its concern with asking a federal court to "forecast" state law. As the Court explained, "a federal court of equity is asked to decide an issue by making a tentative answer which may be displaced tomorrow by a state adjudication." Id. at 499-500, 61 S.Ct. at 645. Finally, the Supreme Court noted that abstention provided a means to "restrain... authority because of `scrupulous regard for the rightful independence of state governments' and for the smooth working of the federal judiciary." Id. at 501, 61 S.Ct. at 645. (citations omitted).

Thus, Pullman stands for the proposition that "where state law is uncertain and a clarification of state law might make a federal court's determination of a constitutional question unnecessary, the federal court should abstain until the state court has had an opportunity to resolve the uncertainty as to state law." Erwin Chemerinsky, Federal Jurisdiction, Second Edition, 688 (1994). It has also been said that abstention under Pullman rests upon three rationales: (1) the avoidance of friction between federal and state courts; (2) the avoidance of...