Hawaiian Church Wins Decade-Long Battle to Build Sanctuary

Nov 18, 2004

                1350 Connecticut Avenue NW – Suite 605

            Washington, D.C. 20036

            Contact:         Jared N. Leland, Esq.:  (202) 349-7206

                                         Kelly Jane Torrance:  (202) 349-7202

             Rubenstein Associates, Inc.

             Contact: Jim Grossman  

For Immediate Release: Nov. 16, 2004

Hawaiian Church Wins Decade-Long Battle to Build Sanctuary

After a heated decade-long battle for the right to worship, a small Maui congregation finally is able to legally gather on their property for religious services. Yesterday, the Maui Planning Commission voted to grant the Hale O Kaula church a special use permit after several denials, federal Department of Justice involvement, and three lawsuits in federal and state court.

            The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, DC, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions, was counsel to the congregation along with Hawaii attorneys Charles H. Hurd and John S. Rapacz.

"Yesterday's settlement is an excellent example of how churches and counties are able --eventually -- to work together at the bargaining table to further the interests of both parties," said Becket Fund Executive Vice President and Director of Litigation Roman P. Storzer, an attorney on the case. "RLUIPA – the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act -- is the vehicle by which they're encouraged to do so."

Hale O Kaula has been holding worship services in the small Hawaiian community of Haiku since 1960. Their previous facility of less than a half-acre was inadequate for the faith community. After trying unsuccessfully to buy property that would allow the church to expand there, the congregation bought a six-acre piece of agricultural land in Maui in 1991. This property allows it to pursue a ministry characteristic of its denomination-agricultural activity drawn from the Old Testament of the Bible.  However, the Maui Planning Commission twice denied the congregation a special use permit that would have allowed the Church to build a sanctuary, fellowship hall, restrooms, kitchen, and offices, and adequately practice core church ministries. 

After their second permit denial, the church filed suit in federal court under RLUIPA, arguing that "By denying Plaintiffs the ability to use their agricultural property as a place of worship, the County of Maui prevents Plaintiffs from practicing the Joseph Ministry, which is largely dependent on agricultural land use and is central to the Church's religious vision and function." It added that "denial of the special use permit was the result of community opposition against Hale O Kaula and its members based on religious prejudice."

Yesterday's hearing before the Maui Planning Commission was the culmination of a six-month mediation process that offered the County a final chance before the case went to trial to reconsider its permit denials and lift the burden that those denials imposed on the church's religious exercise.  After the church reaffirmed its willingness to abide by reasonable conditions, the Planning Commission unanimously voted to grant the permit and allow the church to pursue its ministry. 

Relevant Cases

• Hale O Kaula v. Maui Planning Commission