Source: https://openjurist.org/366/f3d/1214
Timestamp: 2017-11-22 16:55:16
Document Index: 626250695

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 90', '§ 2000', '§ 2000', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 163', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 2000', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90', '§ 90']

366 F3d 1214 Midrash Sephardi Inc v. Town of Surfside | OpenJurist
366 F. 3d 1214 - Midrash Sephardi Inc v. Town of Surfside
366 F3d 1214 Midrash Sephardi Inc v. Town of Surfside
366 F.3d 1214
MIDRASH SEPHARDI, INC., Young Israel of Bal Harbor, Inc., Plaintiffs-Counter-Defendants-Appellants,
TOWN OF SURFSIDE, a Florida Municipal Corporation, Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellee,
Paul Novack, Individually and in his capacity as Mayor of the Town of Surfside, et al., Defendants.
No. 03-13858.
Nathan Lewin, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo PC, Washington, DC, Simon Schwarz, Miami, FL, for Plaintiffs-Counter-Defendants-Appellants.
The members of Midrash and Young Israel adhere to the strict observance of Orthodox Judaism. Synagogue services include religious prayer, worship, song, Torah readings, sermons, group discussions, required Sabbath and holiday festivities, celebrations of religious events and religious study. A central tenet of Orthodox Jewish faith requires daily prayers and the presence of a "minyan" — a quorum of ten males over the age of thirteen — for the reading from the Torah on the weekly Sabbath and religious holidays. According to the synagogues, they have hosted weddings, Bar-Mitzvahs, Brit-Milahs, community holiday meals and festivities, lectures and group discussions on social and political issues, meetings on community welfare and public service activities, and singles events, all within the context of their religious and spiritual missions.
Surfside claims that the SZO was designed in part to invigorate the business district and to create a strong tax base through its retail district.7 The economic viability of the business district — the only retail service area in Surfside — is critical to Surfside's tax base, job base, and servicing the needs of Surfside's residents. Accordingly, Surfside avers that allowing churches and synagogues in the business district would erode Surfside's tax base, on which Surfside is dependent for revenue, and would result in economic hardship on the residents. Because Surfside has a difficult time competing for business with the nearby Shops at Bal Harbour — and recently lost a major retail supermarket chain — Surfside claims that it cannot afford to place non-economic establishments in the business district without risking the economic stability of Surfside.
The congregations' CUP challenge fails the prudential, or "fitness," prong of the ripeness inquiry. Because the congregations have not received a final decision on a CUP application — indeed, neither party has seriously applied for a CUP — the congregations do not raise a purely legal issue which we can decide in the abstract without further factual development. Cf. id. Instead, the congregations' allegations amount to mere speculation about contingent future events. We cannot determine from the record how the CUP will be applied and whether Surfside will use the CUP process to deny the plaintiffs permits to operate their synagogues. The record contains no significant evidence of Surfside's having denied CUPs in the past, and thus, the impact of the CUP requirement is not sufficiently direct and immediate as to render the issue appropriate for judicial review. Such inquiry is better postponed until the issues are presented in the more concrete circumstance of a challenge to § 90-41 as applied.
in the context of RLUIPA's broad definition of religious exercise, a land-use regulation that imposes a substantial burden on religious exercise is one that necessarily bears direct, primary, and fundamental responsibility for rendering religious exercise — including the use of real property for the purpose thereof within the regulated jurisdiction generally — effectively impracticable.
Civil Liberties for Urban Believers v. City of Chicago, 342 F.3d 752, 761 (7th Cir.2003) (hereinafter "CLUB"). While we decline to adopt the Seventh Circuit's definition — which would render § b(3)'s total exclusion prohibition meaningless10 — we agree that "substantial burden" requires something more than an incidental effect on religious exercise.
1. Jurisdictional Nexus
The plain terms and structure of RLUIPA indicate that the jurisdictional prerequisites included in § (a) and discussed above do not apply to § (b)'s prohibition on discrimination against and exclusion of religious institutions. First, § (a)(2) specifically enumerates three jurisdictional tests, at least one of which must be satisfied prior to § (a)(1)'s application, while § (b) is silent as to jurisdictional tests. Second, § (a)(2), by its terms, applies to "subsection" (a). See 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc(a)(2) ("This subsection applies in any case in which [listing jurisdictional tests].") (emphasis added). Finally, the jurisdiction limits relate to burdens imposed by a government — language which is consistent with § (a)(1)'s prohibition on imposing a substantial burden without justification. See id. at § 2000cc(a)(1) ("No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person....") (emphasis added).
The SZO's definition of private club comports with a natural and ordinary understanding of "assembly" as a group gathered for a common purpose. Like churches and synagogues, private clubs are places in which groups or individuals dedicated to similar purposes — whether social, educational, recreational, or otherwise — can meet together to pursue their interests. We conclude therefore that churches and synagogues, as well as private clubs and lodges, fall within the natural perimeter of "assembly or institution."14 Finding that private clubs and lodges are similarly situated to churches and synagogues, we turn to whether under RLUIPA, Surfside may treat them differently.
3. Violation of § (b)
4. Level of Scrutiny
The interested parties in this case disagree as to the applicable level of scrutiny a law violating § (b) must undergo. Surfside assumes that it may justify a violation of § (b) by demonstrating that the varying treatment of different assemblies is rationally related to a legitimate purpose advanced by Surfside — the so-called "rational basis" review. The congregations argue that the ordinance must undergo strict scrutiny: Surfside must demonstrate that its ordinance is narrowly tailored to advance a compelling interest. Finally, the United States submits that § (b)'s prohibition does not allow a defendant to escape liability by providing a "rational basis" or "compelling interest" — in effect, holding government strictly liable a violation of § (b).
Our review of the record indicates that § 90-152 is also underinclusive for the interests Surfside seeks to advance. The SZO's definition of private clubs belies Surfside's argument that private clubs are "typical retail and service activities" by indicating that private clubs are organizations existing "for social, educational or recreational purposes, but not primarily for profit and not primarily to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business." SZO § 90-2(20). Moreover, permitted private clubs include organizations that often meet weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly, and sometimes during non-business hours — hours of operation which fail to stimulate an increase in consumer traffic to the business district. Other than conclusory assertions that private clubs are more social than churches — assertions disputed by evidence submitted by the congregations — and that the increased sociability lends itself to increased patronage of local establishments, Surfside provides no evidence that private clubs and lodges actually contribute to the business district in a way appreciably different than religious institutions. Surfside's stated goal of retail synergy is pursued only against religious assemblies, but not other non-commercial assemblies, thus devaluing the religious reasons for assembling. Under Lukumi, this discriminatory treatment extinguishes an ordinance's neutrality. See Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 538, 113 S.Ct. 2217.
A. RLUIPA Background
We agree with Justice O'Connor's observation that "the Religion Clauses — the Free Exercise Clause, the Establishment Clause, the Religious Test Clause, ... and the Equal Protection Clause as applied to religion — all speak with one voice on this point: Absent the most unusual circumstances, one's religion ought not affect one's legal rights or duties or benefits." Kiryas Joel, 512 U.S. at 715, 114 S.Ct. 2481 (O'Connor, J., concurring). On the face of RLUIPA's equal terms provision, the echoes of these constitutional principles are unmistakable. Simply put, to deny equal treatment to a church or a synagogue on the grounds that it conveys religious ideas is to penalize it for being religious. Such unequal treatment is impermissible based on the precepts of the Free Exercise, Establishment and Equal Protection Clauses.
At its core, Surfside's argument implicates the intersection of both religious liberties principles found in the First Amendment — the right to free exercise of religion and the prohibition against establishment of religion. As courts strive for a "benevolent neutrality" toward religion that allows religious exercise to exist without either endorsement or interference, they do so with the recognition that the two Religion Clauses, "both of which are cast in absolute terms," would, if taken to their logical extremes, "tend to clash with [each] other." Walz, 397 U.S. at 668-69, 90 S.Ct. 1409. When deciding these cases, courts are sometimes forced to enter the debate about whether the Free Exercise Clause allows exemptions from burdensome laws, see, e.g., Corp. of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327, 336, 107 S.Ct. 2862, 97 L.Ed.2d 273 (1987) (upholding a law which granted religious employers an exemption from compliance with Title VII's protection against religious discrimination), or whether the Establishment Clause prohibits such exemptions, either on the grounds that an exemption impermissibly discriminates against the nonreligious, see e.g., Texas Monthly, 489 U.S. at 9, 109 S.Ct. 890 (plurality opinion) (government "may not place its prestige, coercive authority, or resources behind a single religious faith or behind religious belief in general ... conveying the message that those who do not contribute gladly are less than full members of the community"), or on the grounds that the exemption impermissibly advances religion. See, e.g., Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578, 593, 107 S.Ct. 2573, 96 L.Ed.2d 510 (1987) (striking down Louisiana's Creationism Act because it impermissibly endorses religion).
We find unpersuasive Surfside's argument that the application of RLUIPA's equal terms provision gives an impermissible special preference to religious interests. Amos makes it clear that a law does not violate the Establishment Clause simply because it lifts burdens imposed on religious institutions without affording similar benefits to secular entities. 483 U.S. at 338, 107 S.Ct. 2862 ("[W]e see no reason to require that the [burden-alleviating] exemption comes packaged with benefits to secular entities."). Moreover, contrary to Surfside's assertions, RLUIPA does not allow religious assemblies to avoid the application of zoning regulations. RLUIPA does not impose affirmative duties on states that would require them to facilitate or subsidize the exercise of religion. RLUIPA instead calls for exactly the opposite — forbidding states from imposing impermissible burdens on religious worship.
That the Constitution's prohibition of the "establishment of religion" also allows — and sometimes mandates — equal treatment of religion seems obvious. Equal treatment maintains the separation of church and state by keeping the government separate from people's decisions about religion, while ensuring that the government does not "make [] adherence to religion relevant to a person's standing in the political community." Wallace, 472 U.S. at 69, 105 S.Ct. 2479 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment); see also Kiryas Joel, 512 U.S. at 715, 114 S.Ct. 2481 (O'Connor, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573, 626, 109 S.Ct. 3086, 106 L.Ed.2d 472 (1989) (O'Connor, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). Because RLUIPA accommodates religion by remedying and preventing discriminatory zoning in accordance with principles established by the First and Fourteenth Amendments, RLUIPA does not violate the Establishment Clause.20
The plaintiffs also contend that the SZO violates their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as their rights under the Florida Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. Because we sustain the congregations' RLUIPA challenge to the ordinance, we need not reach these additional claims
The standards and procedures for conditional use approval are set forth in SZO § 90-41, which provides that conditional use approval shall only be granted "where it has been clearly shown that the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare will not be adversely affected ... and that necessary safeguards will be provided for the protection of surrounding property." SZO § 90-41(b). Section 90-41 further provides that "[t]he planning and zoning board's report to the town commission may contain recommendations regarding conditions which should be imposed by the town commission in approving the conditional use," and that "[t]he town commission may establish these and/or additional conditions for an approval." SZO § 90-41(d). The SZO does not articulate any other standards governing the CUP procedure
Although other uses "having the same general characteristics and of such nature that the same would not lower the standards of the area" may be permitted in the business district by way of special use exception, churches and synagogues may not apply for special use exceptions because churches and synagogues are only permitted "in any district which they arespecifically allowed." Compare SZO § 90-152(e) with SZO § 90-41(b) (emphasis added).
Written permission from the owner is required for all applications for rezoning, including applications for variances, conditional uses, and special usesSee SZO § 90-58(6), (7).
Section 90-91 provides that the town commission may grant approval for special exceptions, special use permits or variances "after having received a report and recommendation of the planning and zoning board." SZO § 90-91(a). "Special exceptions or variances shall only be granted in cases of demonstrable and exceptional hardship as distinguished from purposes or reasons of convenience, profit or caprice." SZO § 90-91(b). Neither party argues that the synagogues have shown, or indeed could show, the requisite hardship in order to obtain special exceptions or variances
Surfside argues that Jewish law permits the elderly and persons with medical conditions to use transportation to attend services, and thus that walking is not aper se requirement of Orthodox Judaism. It is worth noting at this point that "[i]t is not within the judicial ken to question the centrality of particular beliefs or practices to a faith, or the validity of particular litigants' interpretations of those creeds." Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680, 699, 109 S.Ct. 2136, 104 L.Ed.2d 766 (1989).
Surfside cites the 1995-2000 Comprehensive Plan, adopted pursuant to Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act, FLA. STAT. ANN. § 163.3161et seq. The 1995-2000 Plan states that Surfside's primary goal in drafting the SZO is to "[e]nsure that the character and location of future land uses directs growth in such a way so as to provide maximum economic benefit" to Surfside. Thus, under the 1995-2000 Plan, Surfside encourages, inter alia, 1) revitalization of the existing Harding Avenue business area; 2) concentration of commercial uses in and around Harding Avenue; 3) development of commercial office space along Collins Avenue between 93rd and 96th Streets to provide a greater population for retail and service shops along Harding Avenue; and 4) development of commercial uses along 94th, 95th, and 96th Streets between Collins and Harding Avenues.
The synagogues' original complaint alleged a facial equal protection violation, which was replaced in the second amended complaint with an as-applied equal protection claim. Upon reviewing the record, we find that the synagogues abandoned their facial equal protection claim. The district court was not presented with and did not resolve an equal protection argument based on Surfside's treatment of private clubs and lodges. Therefore, we will not consider this argument on appealSee Walker v. Jones, 10 F.3d 1569, 1572 (11th Cir.1994). To the extent that the argument overlaps with the synagogues' RLUIPA claim, we discuss that issue infra.
However, we find that neither Midrash nor Young Israel has standing to challenge the application of § 90-151, which defines Surfside's tourist district and, like § 90-152, permits private clubs but excludes churches and synagoguesSee 90-151(b)(2). Neither party is located in the tourist district, and neither party has concrete and specific plans to locate in there.
The "exclusions and limits" provision provides that "[n]o government shall impose or implement a land use regulation that — (A) totally excludes religious assemblies from a jurisdiction; or (B) unreasonably limits religious assemblies, institutions, or structures within a jurisdiction." 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc(b)(3)
In addition to these burdens, the congregations suggest that they will not be able to find land or a facility sizable enough to accommodate their congregations in the permitted RD-1 district. That the congregations may be unable to find suitable alternative space does not create a substantial burden within the meaning of RLUIPA. As the Seventh Circuit noted, "whatever specific difficulties [the plaintiff church] claims to have encountered, they are the same ones that face all [land users], not merely churches. The harsh reality of the marketplace sometimes dictates that certain facilities are not available to those who desire them."Love Church v. City of Evanston, 896 F.2d 1082, 1086 (7th Cir.1990).
See Walz v. Tax Comm'n of New York City, 397 U.S. 664, 696, 90 S.Ct. 1409, 25 L.Ed.2d 697 (Harlan, J., concurring) ("In any particular case the critical question is whether the circumference of legislation encircles a class so broad that it can be fairly concluded that religious institutions could be thought to fall within the natural perimeter.").
Conditional uses, which include churches, synagogues, educational institutions, museums, off-street parking lots and garages, public and governmental buildings, and public utilities are "generally of a public or semipublic character ... but because of the nature of the use and possible impact on neighboring properties, require the exercise of planning judgment...." SZO § 90-41(a)
Indeed, the legislative history indicates that § (b)(1) was intended to apply inprecisely the situation presented here. See Joint Statement, at *S7774 ("Zoning codes frequently exclude churches in places where they permit theaters, meeting halls, and other places where large groups of people assemble for secular purposes.").
Surfside does not define "synergy" but the evidence suggests that Surfside's primary concern was encouraging an increase in consumer traffic in its business and tourist districts. While Surfside suggests that allowing churches and synagogues will erode its tax base and ultimately require a decrease in services offered by Surfside to its residents, it does not devote much time to this argument. As described below, § 90-152 is both over-and underinclusive with respect to Surfside's goal of synergy, no matter how that term is defined
We reject Surfside's contention that the SZO is neutral because there is no evidence of selective and discriminatory intent against Orthodox Jews, a pattern of hostility or discriminatory animus toward the synagogues, or evidence that Surfside directly targeted religion in enacting the SZO. UnderLukumi, it is unnecessary to identify an invidious intent in enacting a law — only Justices Kennedy and Stevens attached significance to evidence of the lawmakers' subjective motivation. See id. at 540-42, 113 S.Ct. 2217 (Kennedy, J., concurring); see also id. at 558, 113 S.Ct. 2217 (Scalia, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment).
This conclusion does not inhibit a zoning authority's right to adopt other reasonable "run of the mill" zoning regulations — such as those related to size, parking, safety and health concerns — even though such regulations may have the effect of distinguishing between assemblies or institutions. For example, Surfside may regulate the number of parking spaces required for each facility,see SZO § 90-226, or restrict the size of assemblies or institutions, as the SZO does by prohibiting them on the first floor of buildings in the business district. As long as restrictions or distinctions are unrelated to the religious characterization, RLUIPA is not implicated. See also Joint Statement, at *S7776 ("This Act does not provide religious institutions with immunity from land use regulation, nor does it relieve religious institutions from applying for variances, special permits or exceptions, hardship approval, or other relief provisions in land use regulations, where available without discrimination or unfair delay.").
As discussed above, SZO § 90-152 violates § (b) of RLUIPA, which also indicates that § 90-152 is neither neutral nor generally applicable. Because § 90-152 fails these two Free Exercise requirements, it has a "significant likelihood of being unconstitutional."
The Supreme Court has acknowledged thatLemon's second and third prongs are often interrelated and the simplest way of evaluating whether a statute results in impermissible entanglement is to assess it using the same factors used to examine the "effect" prong. See Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 232-33, 117 S.Ct. 1997, 138 L.Ed.2d 391 (1997). Evaluating Lemon's second and third prongs together or separately does not affect our analysis; for purposes of clarity, we evaluate each separately.
Surfside's argument that RLUIPA violates the Establishment Clause echoes Justice Stevens' concurring opinion inBoerne, which indicated his belief that RFRA violated the Establishment Clause because the statute "provided the Church with a legal weapon that no atheist or agnostic can obtain." Boerne, 521 U.S. at 536-37, 117 S.Ct. 2157 (Stevens, J., concurring). Many circuits have held that RFRA continues to apply to the federal government. See Kikumura v. Hurley, 242 F.3d 950, 959-60 (10th Cir.2001); In re Young, 141 F.3d 854, 863 (8th Cir.1998); Mockaitis v. Harcleroad, 104 F.3d 1522, 1530 (9th Cir.1997); Sasnett v. Sullivan, 91 F.3d 1018, 1022 (7th Cir.1996), vacated on other grounds, 521 U.S. 1114, 117 S.Ct. 2502, 138 L.Ed.2d 1007 (1997); EEOC v. Catholic Univ. of Am., 83 F.3d 455, 470 (D.C.Cir.1996); Flores v. City of Boerne, 73 F.3d 1352, 1364 (5th Cir.1996), rev'd on other grounds, 521 U.S. 507, 117 S.Ct. 2157, 138 L.Ed.2d 624 (1997). While we have not had occasion to decide this question for ourselves, the implication is that if RFRA were constitutionally infirm on Establishment Clause grounds as applied to the states, there would be no principled way to exempt the federal government from the same infirmity. Although we are evaluating RLUIPA's equal terms provision, which, unlike the substantial burden provision, does not have roots in RFRA, we note that the Boerne majority declined to adopt Justice Stevens' view of the Establishment Clause.