Repeat offender: Ga. county sued again, unlawfully denies another church's right to build
ADF attorneys file second suit against Coweta County this year for prohibiting new church building
ADF attorney sound bites (4/13/11): Erik Stanley #1 | Erik Stanley #2
NEWNAN, Ga. — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed their second lawsuit of the year against Coweta County Wednesday for unlawfully blocking another church’s right to build on its own property despite prior recommendations for approval.
In the most recent case, the county board of commissioners denied Holiness Is the Way Ministries a conditional use permit even though the county planner and the board of zoning appeals had already recommended approval of the permit to build a place of worship. The refusal comes despite the county’s issuance of conditional use permits to 13 other churches over the past four years.
“Churches shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination by a county’s zoning decisions,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “This is especially true when the church has already received all the recommended approvals through the appropriate channels and no other legitimate reason for denial has been given. The county must learn to abide by the U.S. Constitution and federal law, which prohibit this kind of discriminatory treatment of churches.”
After entering a contract to purchase 10 acres of land in January 2010, Holiness Is the Way Ministries applied for a conditional use permit with the Coweta County Board of Zoning and Appeals to build a church on its rural property in April 2010. The following month, the Coweta County planner issued a recommendation to the zoning board for the permit to be approved. The board then recommended to the Coweta County Board of Commissioners in June 2010 that the church’s application be approved, yet after a hearing, the commissioners denied the permit without providing any reason for the denial.
ADF attorneys argue that the county’s refusal is once again in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law that prevents zoning officials from singling out churches for discriminatory treatment.
The lawsuit, Holiness Is the Way Ministries v. Coweta County, was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Newnan Division.
In February, ADF attorneys filed suit against Coweta County for refusing to let All Souls Church of God in Christ build on its own property after it also had met all county requirements and previously received recommendation for a conditional use permit to be issued.