DOJ backs small California church in zoning fight

U.S. attorneys filed a document to ensure that federal religious land use laws are applied correctly, according to a Monday statement from the Department of Justice. The third-party filing came in support of a lawsuit brought by Anchor Stone Christian Church alleging that the city of Santa Ana violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The federal law was passed in 2000 to protect religious groups from discrimination through zoning and landmarking laws.

What are the facts of the case? Anchor Stone began in 2018 as an in-home prayer group for Americans in the area who were first-generation immigrants from China or Taiwan. Santa Ana is on the southeast side of the greater Los Angeles area. The group began growing and by 2022 the church bought a vacant office building to accommodate the nearly 50-member congregation, according to the lawsuit. Before purchasing the building, church leaders met with city planners for assurance that they could use the building for worship despite its zoning in a professional district, according to their lawsuit. City officials clarified that an additional permit was needed but assured church leaders that there would be no issues with the church receiving the permit, according to the lawsuit.

However, once the purchase went through, the city refused the church’s necessary permit to function in the zoning area. In February, after about two years of appealing permit applications and sparring with city council members, the First Liberty Institute filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the church. A church’s right to operate without government interference is protected under the Constitution, said First Liberty Institute counsel Ryan Gardner.

What does the DOJ say in its filing? The department noted that the city’s zoning laws appeared to unfairly treat religious groups differently compared to secular groups. Religious assembly groups need a special permit to function within the professional district but nonreligious groups like museums or art galleries have an apparent right to function in the district, the DOJ’s statement noted. Santa Ana can’t justify its unequal treatment of religious assembly groups, U.S. attorneys wrote.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the DOJ filing another interest statement for equal application of the FACE Act in California earlier this month.