News Release
For Immediate Release: 3.25.26
Contact: John Manning, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
Church Asks Court to Require County to Treat Church’s Building Plans Fairly
Church asks the United States Appeals Court for the Fourth Circuit to apply federal law, uphold decision that County unfairly denied church’s plans.
Richmond, VA—First Liberty Institute and the law firms Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Michael Best & Friedrich LLP submitted a brief on behalf of The Summit Church-Homestead Heights Baptist Church (Chatham, NC) asking the court to uphold the district court’s decision applying the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) to bar a county’s decision to unfairly deny the church’s building plans.
You can read the brief here.
“It’s wrong for the government to enforce restrictions on a church that impose a substantial burden on its ability to exercise its religious rights,” said Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “Federal law protects religious organizations from unfair and unequal treatment within local zoning laws and the protests of disgruntled neighbors.”
“As the district court rightly understood, federal law has long barred exactly this kind of discriminatory use of zoning laws to keep churches out,” said Elbert Lin, Partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. “The County in its appeal now seeks to undo a quarter-century of federal protections, claiming that federal courts are completely powerless over individual rezoning decisions, even where the court has found unconstitutional discrimination in the process.”
Keith Richardson, Partner at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP who represented The Summit Church at the trial level, is “grateful the federal district court rightly recognized the discriminatory treatment targeting Summit, and looks forward to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the broad reach of RLUIPA over religiously discriminatory zoning practices—including the one facing The Summit Church.”
J.D. Greear, Lead Pastor of The Summit Church added, “Our aim as a church with a deep commitment to the local community has always been to reach our neighbors. We’ve been doing that in Chapel Hill for well over a decade, and we were simply seeking to do it in a more permanent location. When our application was denied, it didn’t stop our ministry, but it did introduce a new obstacle—one sure to create problems for future churches too. We therefore felt a responsibility to defend our constitutional right, and that of other churches, to the free exercise of religion.”
After significant growth at The Chapel Hill Campus, The Summit Church sought a permanent location for a new building. When a parcel of land became available directly across the street from a shopping center, retail space and professional offices, the church submitted a rezoning request to accommodate its building proposal. Initially told that the request was “consistent with the comprehensive plan…” one member of the board stated, “there are not really any clear reasons to object.” However, during public comments, some attendees objected to the size of the proposed building and criticized the church’s conservative religious beliefs. At a later public hearing, the board chairperson stopped additional comments and stated emphatically, “I have heard nothing…that is going to change my perspective…Chatham County is not a place to call home for that size of a church.” The proposal was denied, but the district court granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the church and now the County is appealing that decision at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In the appeal, attorneys state: “Congress enacted the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) more than 25 years ago to protect individuals, houses of worship, and religious institutions from discrimination by state and local governments. This case fits squarely within those protections.”
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact John Manning at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
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