City Planners deem liquor licenses more 'valuable' than Church worship
Pastor Dale Morgan
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City Planners deem liquor licenses more 'valuable' than Church worship*
Posted: May 30, 2008
Arizona On-line
The Planning and Zoning Commission of Yuma, Ariz., denied a use permit
to a church because, in part, it worried that the church would cost the
city liquor license money.
City staff informed the commission in a report that the church would not
be "beneficial to overall economic health" of the area, a condition
necessary for granting a conditional use permit (CUP).
Why not?
The staff report cited worries about parking and about lessoned tax
revenue, but also warned that an Arizona statute forbidding liquor
licenses within 300 feet of a church might prevent certain businesses
from moving near the church's proposed new location.
The controversy began when Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenos Nuevas
Christian Church, outgrowing its current facility, bought an old JC
Penney store that had been mostly vacant for 15 years in Yuma's "Old
Town" district.
The church planned to move in, renovate the building, begin worship and
initiate community service ministries.
Following a neighborhood meeting about the proposed relocation, Yuma's
Senior Planner, Robert Blevins, assured the church that their CUP
application was likely to be approved.
The city staff report, however, recommended the zoning commission deny
the CUP, and the commission voted 5-0 to block it.
Now attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Center for
Arizona Policy have initiated a lawsuit to ask a federal court to step
in. The city of Yuma permits other, non-religious groups to assemble
without a CUP, says the suit, so requiring only religious organizations
meet the requirements of a CUP constitutes discrimination.
"Churches should not be singled out for discrimination by a city's
zoning restrictions," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione.
"Prohibiting a church from occupying its own building simply because a
city favors non-religious assemblies over religious assemblies is not
allowed under the Constitution or federal law."
The Old Town district of Yuma currently is home to a theater, a cinema,
an art center, the Yuma County Democratic Party, an Eagles Hall and a
Masonic Lodge – all classified as assemblies, but none of which were
required to obtain a CUP.
The pending lawsuit contends that "the city's discrimination has
communicated to the public that the church's religious character,
mission, and services have little value to the greater community, and
are less valuable than comparable secular uses."
"The government cannot treat people with non-religious viewpoints more
favorably than people with religious viewpoints," said Center for
Arizona Policy attorney Peter Gentala. "The actions of Yuma zoning
officials violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons
Act, a federal statute which protects churches from discriminatory
zoning laws. The city's 'you don't fit' attitude does not justify
treating religious organizations differently than nonreligious groups."