For nearly a year, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron was forced to battle the City of Fairlawn, Ohio in federal court over the city's refusal to allow the church to build a fellowship hall on property the church has occupied since 1958. The battle finally ended on October 1, 2001 when the Fairlawn City Council voted 5-1 to approve a settlement with the church that gave it everything it had asked for, plus legal costs.
The church was originally established in nearby Akron in 1839. At the time the church moved to the current site, the Village of Fairlawn had not yet been established. In 1993, Fairlawn adopted a new zoning ordinance, and created three municipal zoning districts, with M-3 the only district where churches would be allowed. Even there, however, they are not permitted as of right and must be specially authorized.
In the lawsuit, filed on December 4, 2000, the church charged that Fairlawn's implementation of its zoning code amounts to a ban on churches and an unreasonable restriction on the completion, restoration, reconstruction, extension or substitution of preexisting churches. The suit alleges violations of the U.S. Constitution and RLUIPA. The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that portions of the Fairlawn zoning ordinance are invalid, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting the unreasonable enforcement of the ordinance against the church, money damages and attorneys' fees.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty joined this case as co-counsel with attorneys from the Ohio firm of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs on February 8, 2001. An amended complaint was filed on March 15, 2001. Defendants filed a second motion to dismiss on April 5, 2001. The Becket Fund filed a response and memorandum in opposition to the motion to dismiss, with a detailed defense of the constitutionality of RLUIPA, on April 19, 2001. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a memorandum of law in support of the constitutionality of RLUIPA on April 30, 2001. (Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron v. City of Fairlawn, 5:00 CV 3021, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division)
On June 18, 2001, the Fairlawn City Council voted to authorize city Law Director Ed Riegler to explore the possibility of a negotiated settlement. A resolution approving a settlement was to have been voted on by the Council on September 4, 2001, but did not do so for lack of a quorum. A special council meeting to deal with the settlement has now been tentatively scheduled for September 10. The settlement was heard at three successive meetings of the council, and was finally approved on a vote of 5-1 (with one member absent) on October 1, 2001.
On November 5, at its regular meeting, the Fairlawn City Council voted 5-2 to approve rezoning the church property from R-2 to M-3, opening the way (at last) for construction of a new fellowship hall and handicapped-access rest rooms.
On April 11, 2002, the Fairlawn Planning Commission approved the preliminary building and site plans for the church construction. The vote was 3-0, with one abstention.