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Zoning Bulletin July 25, 2011 I Volume 51 No. 14 <br />Validity of Ordinance —Ordinance Prohibits <br />Churches From Obtaining Special Use Permits in <br />Zoning District <br />Church challenges ordinances as violating the Equal Terms <br />Clause of RLUIPA <br />Citation: Elijah Group, Inc. v. City of Leon Valley, Tex., 2011 WL <br />2295215 (Sth Cir. 2011) <br />The Fifth Circuit has jurisdiction over Louisiana, Mississippi, and <br />Texas. <br />FIFTH CIRCUIT (TEXAS) (06/10/11)—This case addressed the is- <br />sue of whether a city ordinance that prohibited churches from obtain- <br />ing a special use permit to operate in a business zone in the city vio- <br />lated the Equal Terms Clause of the federal Religious Land Use and <br />Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"). <br />The Background/Facts: Until March 2007, the City of Leon Valley, <br />Texas (the "City"), had maintained a zoning code that allowed churches <br />to obtain Special Use Permits ("SUPs") to operate in business zones desig- <br />nated "B-2". In March 2007, the City amended its zoning code in order <br />to "stimulat[e] the economy by creating a retail corridor" on a roadway <br />in the City. That amendment (the "Ordinance") eliminated the right of <br />churches to obtain SUPs in B-2 zones. Churches were effectively excluded <br />from B-2 zones. Churches were permitted in B-3 zones. B-3 zones were <br />designated for commercial uses with larger space requirements. <br />Nearly a year after the Ordinance was adopted, The Elijah Group, <br />Inc. (the "Church") sought to purchase a property in the B-2 zone. The <br />City denied the property owner's request to rezone the property from a <br />B-2 to a B-3. Thereafter, the Church agreed to lease the property from <br />the owner. Later, when the Church began to hold religious services <br />on that B-2 property, the City obtained a temporary restraining order <br />against such activity as violating the Ordinance. <br />Eventually, the Church filed suit against the City in state court. <br />Among other things, the Church challenged the Ordinance as violative <br />of the Equal Terms Clause of the federal RLUIPA. <br />The City moved the case to federal district court. That court held <br />that the Ordinance was valid. <br />The Church appealed. <br />DECISION: Reversed, and matter remanded. <br />The United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, held that the Or- <br />dinance violated the Equal Terms Clause of RLUIPA. <br />© 2011 Thomson Reuters 7 <br />