Pennsylvania city revamps zoning code for churches

Pennsylvania city revamps zoning code for churches

Faced with a federal lawsuit, a city in Pennsylvania has voted to modify its zoning ordinance to eliminate a provision that prohibited any church from locating in a commercial district.

Lighthouse Christian Center had to file a lawsuit to get the city ordinance overturned so the church could locate in a commercial area of downtown Titusville. The suit illustrates that it is not only in urban areas, but also in small town America that Christians may find their rights trampled on. Titusville is a town of some 6,000 residents in northwest Pennsylvania.

"We are pleased that local governments are getting the message that churches are not second-class property owners," says Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel which represented Lighthouse Christian Center in the suit.

The church had outgrown its facilities last year when it located and leased a building in a commercial zone. But zoning officials told the Christian Center it could not lease property in a commercial area. Consequently, the church was forced to move outside the city to the only available alternative, a building without heat or insulation.

According to Liberty Counsel, the zoning code permitted secular, non-profit organizations -- as well as operations such as theaters, clubs, lodges, and bars -- in commercial districts. Staver contends exclusion of churches was not only an attempt to eliminate churches because they may not pay property taxes, but also an attempt to eliminate churches "simply because they didn’t want churches in the city -- they wanted to literally zone them out of the city limits."

In July 2006, Liberty Counsel sued the city of Titusville on behalf of the church. The suit alleged that the city's "church-free" zoning ordinance violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

Subsequently, the town of Titusville settled the suit for violations of RLUIPA and the U.S. Constitution. Town officials agreed to correct its discriminatory zoning code, pay attorneys' fees, and allow the church to locate in the downtown commercial zone.

"I think it's very clear [now] that local governments cannot create church-free zones, nor can local governments discriminate against houses of worship," says Staver. "The First Amendment and federal law both provide that churches and houses of worship should receive equal, if not preferential, treatment to other similar zoning uses. Churches are not orphans to any zoning district."

Liberty Counsel, established in 1989, is a nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization committed to religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family. The group has offices in Florida and Virginia, and hundreds of affiliate attorneys in all 50 states.