Vineyard Christian Fellowship v. City of Evanston

• Decision Date: 31 March 2003
• Docket Number: No. 00 C 798.,00 C 798.
• Parties: VINEYARD CHRISTIAN FELLOSHIP OF EVANSTON, INC., Plaintiff, v. CITY OF EVANSTON, a municipal corporation, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

250 F.Supp.2d 961

VINEYARD CHRISTIAN FELLOSHIP OF EVANSTON, INC., Plaintiff, v. CITY OF EVANSTON, a municipal corporation, Defendant.

No. 00 C 798.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

March 31, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mark Robert Sargis, Paul B. O'Flaherty, Jr., Christopher Jason Raistrick, Bellande, Cheely, O'Flaherty, Sargis & Ayers, Chicago, IL, for Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Evanston, Inc.

George James Sotos, Mary Therese Nagel, James E. Ryan, Patrick J. Solberg, Illinois Attorney General's Office, Chicago, IL, for People of State of Illinois.

Theodore C. Hirt, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Programs Branch, Washington, DC, for U.S.A.

George James Sotos, Mary Therese Nagel, Illinois Attorney General's Office, Chicago, IL, Jack M. Siegel, Altheimer & Gray, Chicago, IL, for City of Evanston.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PALLMEYER, District Judge.

Few principles are more venerable or more passionately held in American society than those of local control over land use and the right to assemble and worship where one chooses. On occasion, these principles conflict, and the right to assemble in a location of choice must be balanced against the need of a city to continue to grow economically, to provide adequate municipal services to its residents, and to continue to attract businesses and consumers.

Plaintiff Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Evanston, Illinois ("Vineyard"), an incorporated church, owns property within Defendant Evanston's ("Evanston" or "City") city limits but is barred by the City's zoning ordinance from using the property for worship or prayer. Vineyard has brought a twelve-count complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Evanston's zoning laws on their face and as applied against Vineyard violate Sections 15 and 20 of the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("IRFRA"), 775 ILCS 35/15 and 775 ILCS 35/20 (Count I); the Equal Protection Clause (Count II), Free Exercise Clause (Count III), First Amendment rights of free assembly (Count IV) and freedom of speech (Count V) of the United States Constitution; the rights of religious freedom (Count VI), freedom of speech (Count VII), freedom of assembly (Count VIII), and equal protection (Count IX) of the Illinois Constitution; Illinois zoning standards (Counts X and XI), and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 ("RLUIPA"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc, et seq. (Count XII). Vineyard seeks a declaratory judgment as well as injunctive and other relief.

After this action was removed to federal court, the court heard evidence at a bench trial between January and March 2001. The following constitute the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to FED. R. Crv. P. Rule 52. For the reasons set forth below, the court enters judgment in favor of Vineyard with respect to Counts II, IV, V, VII, VIII, and IX. As to the remaining counts, the court enters judgment in favor of Evanston. Finally, the court notes that, as the following discussion demonstrates, it might well be a simple matter for the City to amend its zoning ordinance in such a way as to satisfy the equal protection and free speech concerns at issue in this case.

FINDINGS OF FACT

A. Procedural History

Vineyard commenced this action against Evanston in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois on January 12, 2000. Defendant then removed the case to federal court on February 9, 2000. Vineyard filed an amended complaint for declaratory judgment, injunctive and other relief on October 11, 2000. The United States has intervened, arguing on behalf of the RLUIPA's constitutionality, but not taking a position as to whether Vineyard's rights have been violated. The court heard arguments on Vineyard's motion for a preliminary injunction in December 2000 and directed Evanston to permit Vineyard to hold worship services on its property on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve in 2000. Vineyard Christian Fellowship v. City of Evanston, N.D. Ill., No. 00 C 798 (Dec. 12, 2000). A bench trial was held in early 2001. Except with regard to damages, the matter has been fully briefed by the parties. This opinion follows.

B. The Parties

Plaintiff Vineyard has worshiped in various Evanston locations for approximately twenty-five years. (Transcript ("Tr.") 283.) Its congregation is a member of the worldwide Association of Vineyard Churches (Tr. 66), and it is undisputed that the religious beliefs of Vineyard's members are sincere.

Vineyard's total average weekly attendance in 2000 was approximately 623 (of whom 503 were adults), down from approximately 660 in 1999, and 745 in 1997. (Tr. 266-67.) The church's Sunday morning worship service is one of the largest congregational gatherings in Evanston. (Tr. 83.) More than three-quarters of the church's membership live within five miles of the City, with one-third of its members residing in Evanston, making Evanston the center of the radius within which Vineyard's members live. (Tr. 282-83.)

Evanston is a municipal corporation and is a home rule unit of local government under Illinois law. (Answer to Complaint ("Ans.") ¶ 4.) The City is bounded on the east by Lake Michigan, on the north by the Village of Wilmette, on the west by the Village of Skokie, and on the south by the City of Chicago, and has a total area of approximately 8.5 square miles. (Tr. 929, 1141.) The City thus has no room for geographical expansion and has been almost completely developed for some time, (Tr. 518.)

C. The Ordinance

On April 26, 1993, the City adopted the Evanston Zoning Ordinance ("the Ordinance"), Ordinance No. 43-0-93. (City of Evanston Zoning Ordinance, Joint Exhibit 1; Ans. ¶ 8.) The Ordinance has been subsequently amended. (Ans. ¶ 8.) The Ordinance is designed to enforce the City's Comprehensive General Plan ("General Plan"), which is a document articulating the City's values and objectives for land use, public transportation, the location of schools, and other urban planning matters. (Tr. 933; Evanston Comprehensive General Plan of 1986, Plaintiffs Exhibit ("PX") 46; Evanston Comprehensive General Plan of 2000, PX 47.) The City Council adopted new general plans in 1986 and 2000. (Id.) The Ordinance divides the City into 30 base zoning districts and 4 "overlay" districts.¹ (Ordinance § 6-7-1.) The districts include the 01 Office District in which the subject property has been located at all relevant times, residential districts, business districts, commercial districts, downtown districts, as well as several special purpose districts. (Id.) Other than the property owned by Vineyard, there are no churches located in any of the City's four 01 Districts. (Tr. 953.)

As described in the Ordinance, 01 Office Districts are intended to provide appropriate locations for "contemporary, moderately low rise office developments" with particular attention to medical offices and financial office centers. (Ordinance § 6-15-2-1.) Permitted uses, which are allowed as a matter of right in 01 Districts, include cultural facilities, financial institutions, government institutions, hotels, offices, public utilities, and restaurants. (Id. at § 6-15-2-2.) Special uses in 01 Districts, which must be individually approved by the City Council, include child care centers, commercial indoor recreation facilities, commercial parking garages, commercial parking lots, drivethrough facilities (accessory only),² membership organizations, multiple family dwellings, retail goods establishments, retail services establishments, and planned developments. (Id. at § 6-15-2-3.)

Vineyard asks the court to give careful attention to the correspondences between its proposed use of the property and the definitions of at least one of these permitted uses and one of the special uses which may be allowed in the 01 District. First, "cultural facility" is defined by the Ordinance as "an indoor theater, auditorium, or other building or structure designed, intended or used primarily for musical dance, dramatic or other performances or a library, museum or gallery operated primarily for the display, rather than the sale, of works of art." (Id. at § 6-18-3.) Second, the Ordinance defines "membership organization" as "[l]ands, buildings or portions thereof, or premises owned or operated by an organization of a professional, business, trade, civic, social, fraternal, political, or religious nature operating on a membership basis and engaged in promoting the interest of their members." (Id. at § 6-18-3.)

The Ordinance defines a "religious institution" as "a church, synagogue, temple, meetinghouse, mosque or other place of religious worship, including any accessory use or structure, such as a school, daycare center or dwelling." (Id. at § 6-18-3.) Under this definition, religious institutions are a permitted use in eight of the city's base zoning districts and are designated as special uses in fourteen other districts, but are forbidden in 01 Districts. (Id.) Specifically, religious institutions are permitted as of right in three of the City's business districts, three commercial districts (including one mixed-use commercial district), the downtown "fringe" district, a manufacturing district, and the "university lakefront campus district." (See generally Zoning Ordinance.) Religious institutions are permitted as special uses in several residential districts as well as three downtown districts, a manufacturing district, an industrial district, and three campus-related districts. (Id.)

Approximately 90 religious institutions are currently located in the City (Tr. 1141), and an estimated 90% of the City's geographic area lies in zoning districts in which churches are either permitted or special uses. (Tr. 399, 1140; Graphic of City of Evanston, Defendant's Exhibit ("DX") 5.) Churches are permitted as of right in only 10% of this area; in the other 90%, they are special uses requiring permission from the City Council on a caseby-case basis. (Tr....