When is a church not a church? In this case, according to Georgetown Zoning Administrator Mannette Minier, it's when her "common sense" tells her otherwise.
The Great Lakes Society for Biblical Research, founded in 1974, owns a six acre property in Georgetown Township, just southwest of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Minister John Cheetham lives in a parsonage on the property, and after years of fundraising among the Society's members, they filed an application on April 17, 2002 for a special use permit to build a two-story church building at the 40th Avenue location. The floor plan for the building includes a sanctuary for group worship, prayer rooms, meditation rooms, restrooms, a library, publishing facilities, a dining lounge and a garage, features common to most churches.
The site plan reflected compliance with requirements that had been specified in writing in a January letter from Zoning Administrator Mannette Minier, including minimum lot width, minimum lot area, and access to an arterial street. A Planning Commission work session on the proposal was held on May 1, and Township planning consultant Todd Mowery called the Society plan "straightforward and very well prepared."
But suddenly, on May 8, Minier sent a letter stating that "I am making the determination that the proposal as submitted for this site is not, in fact, a church for purposes of the Georgetown Township Zoning Ordinance," and indicating that she was unilaterally removing the permit request from the Planning Commission's hearing schedule. The Zoning Administrator said that her determination that the Society's proposed church building did not meet the definition of a "church" was based on her "experience and common sense."
The Great Lakes Society appealed, and the Zoning Board of Appeals held hearings on the matter on May 22 and June 26. On July 24, the ZBA adopted a resolution upholding Minier's determination that the building the Society proposed to build was not a "church for zoning purposes." The ZBA did ininvite the Society to submit additional information, including architectural plans, and the Society did attempt to submit the additional information on October 1. Minier, however, rejected the submission, and "suggested that the Society relocate outside of Georgetown Township."
A supplemental application filed on February 18, 2003 was brushed aside by Minier in a March 11 letter in which she stated that "your current application and proposal is substantially the same as your prior application . . . which was determined not to constitute a 'church' for purposes of the Georgetown Zoning Ordinance."
On April 1, 2003, the Great Lakes Society filed a lawsuit against Georgetown Township, charging that it "Not only has the Township violated its own Georgetown Charter Township Zoning Ordinance and the laws of the State, but also numerous federal statutory and constitutional provisions that protect religious exercise. First, the Township arbitrarily decided that the Society is not a church. Then it refused to accept a supplemental application. Then it changed its laws to gerrymander the Society out of Georgetown Township. And all along the way, the Township has exhibited hostility towards the Society through its words and other actions."
The complaint charges the Township with violations of RLUIPA's discrimination, equal terms, substantial burden, and unreasonable limitation provisions, as well as the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Article I of the Michigan Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed in Ottowa County Circuit Court in Grand Haven, Michigan. In December, 2000 The Becket Fund won the very first case to be decided under RLUIPA, in a lawsuit against the City of Grand Haven (Haven Shores Community Church v. City of Grand Haven).
(Great Lakes Society v. Georgetown Charter Township, et al., Ottowa County Circuit Court, Case No. 03-4599-AA)
Victory!
On July 23, the Circuit Court for Ottawa County Michigan ruled that Georgetown Charter Township illegally denied the Great Lakes Society (“GLS”) its right to build a house of worship for the chemically sensitive and disabled. The ruling, signed by Circuit Judge Calvin L. Bosman, found that the Township violated the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) when it denied GLS’ permit application because the building proposal did not meet the Township’s arbitrary notions of what constitutes a church.