A church in Santa Ana, California, can now hold services in its building after a federal district court judge ordered the city to stop prohibiting the church from worshiping on its property.

For about two and a half years, Anchor Stone Christian Church, a Chinese- and Taiwanese-American church, could not worship in a building it owns due to the city of Santa Ana’s refusing to approve a conditional use permit application even though it had promised the church it would do so before the church purchased the property.

The church appealed the denial, citing the Religious Land and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), which says no government can “impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution … No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that treats a religious assembly or institution on less than equal terms with a nonreligious assembly or institution.”

The city rejected the church’s appeal, causing the building to become vacant. Unable to use the property, the church has suffered up to $575,000 in financial loss.

Law firms First Liberty Institute and O’Melveny & Myers LLP filed suit on behalf of Anchor Stone against the city of Santa Ana and the Santa Ana City Council, arguing that the RLUIPA and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment had been violated. 

On March 14, the U.S. Justice Department filed a statement of interest regarding the case in which the department supported the church’s claim. 

The statement rejected the city’s claim that assemblies are not allowable in the area, saying, “Art galleries, museums, and places of worship are all defined as ‘assembly uses’ by the California Building Code.”

The statement also addressed the city’s conditional use permit (CUP).

“Santa Ana’s Zoning Code violates RLUIPA’s equal terms provision on its face because the Professional district requires churches to obtain a CUP,” the statement said, “while comparable secular assemblies like museums, science centers, and art galleries are allowed by right with no discretionary permit. The Church has therefore demonstrated a prima facie case of unequal treatment, and the City has not justified the unequal treatment with reference to any accepted zoning criterion. Accordingly, the Church has demonstrated a likelihood of success on its RLUIPA equal terms claim.”

On April 7, U.S. District Court Judge John W. Holcomb instructed the city to stop prohibiting the church from conducting worship services.

Holcomb said Anchor Stone’s claims that both RLUIPA and the church’s First Amendment rights had been violated were “likely to succeed.”

“In short,” Holcomb stated, “it appears unlikely that the City will meet its burden to establish that the Zoning Ordinance treats religious assembly on equal terms with similarly situated nonreligious assembly uses. Accordingly, the Court concludes that, based upon the totality of the circumstances, Anchor Stone has met its burden to show that the City’s denial of its CUP application substantially burdened Anchor Stone’s religious exercise.”

The ruling continued: “The City is preliminarily ENJOINED and RESTRAINED from preventing Anchor Stone from holding services on the Property and from preventing Anchor Stone from undertaking its planned renovations of the Property.”

Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, reacted to the ruling in a press release.

“The judge made it clear that the city severely burdened Anchor Stone’s ability to engage in religious exercise,” said Dys. “We applaud today’s ruling that requires the city to follow federal law and treat religious land uses the same as any other.”

Timothy Durst, partner at O’Melveny & Myers, celebrated the win for religious freedom.

“The First Amendment and federal law protect the right of churches to operate free from unreasonable and intrusive government interference,” Durst said. “The district court judge enjoined the City’s favoritism and discrimination against Anchor Stone Church. It is a good day for Anchor Stone and for religious liberty. O’Melveny considers it a privilege to represent the church and to work with First Liberty on this important matter.”

Photo: First Liberty Institute Facebook