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Published Wednesday, February 16, 2011 in Local

Photo by Jeffrey Leo

Pastor Curtis Connally and his wife, Mary, stand in January 2010 on the Buddy West Road property where they had hoped to build a permanent home for All Souls Church of God in Christ.

County faces lawsuit for denying church permit

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

A federal lawsuit has been filed over Coweta County's denial of a permit for a proposed church on Buddy West Road.

The Alliance Defense Fund filed suit in federal court Friday on behalf of All Souls Church of God in Christ.

On Jan. 19, 2010, the Coweta County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to deny a conditional use permit for the proposed church at 401 Buddy West Road in north Coweta.

The county's planning department had recommended approval of the permit for the five-acre tract, with conditions.

But residents in the area appeared at the public hearing before the Coweta County Board of Zoning Appeals to oppose the church permit. The major reason residents gave for opposing the church was the traffic impact. There were also worries the church would negatively impact the "rural feel" of the area.

All Souls wants to build an 8,400-square-foot church with seating for 299 members. The 70-space parking lot would be set back about 150 feet from the roadway, with the church behind it. An old shop building currently sits where the parking lot would be. A house near the front of the property would be torn down. The church purchased the property in June 2008.

The BZA unanimously voted to recommend denial.

In addition to traffic and quality of life concerns, neighbors said they were worried about storm water management, the glare from lights, and the effect the church's septic tank might have on wells -- all items addressed either through proposed zoning conditions or county ordinances.

Then Third District Commissioner Randolph Collins made a motion to deny the permit. Voting in favor were Collins, Paul Poole and Tim Lassetter.

Commissioners Rodney Brooks and Al Smith voted against denial.

The church reapplied for the permit soon afterward but later withdrew the application.

On May 19, 2010, Coweta County was served notice of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the denial.

The investigation was launched to determine whether Coweta County had violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.

Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for The Alliance Defense Fund, said he doesn't think there has been a formal decision rendered by the DOJ.

"The Department of Justice frequently takes quite a bit of time to investigate," Stanley said. "All Souls just didn't have the time to wait around."

Stanley said that ADF was contacted by All Souls.

According to its website, The Alliance Defense Fund is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations formed to defend "the right of people to freely live out their faith." All legal services are provided free of charge.

"One of the major reasons ADF got involved is because it is always very concerned when a church asks for zoning permission to build a church, and the professional zoning staff of the county recommends approval," but the church is denied anyway, Stanley said.

The planning staff "doesn't see any objective reason why the church can't be there, and then the county just denies zoning approval for no apparent reason," he said.

"It makes it seem as if there is something else going on, either political pressure or some other kind of arbitrary reason for the zoning denial," Stanley said.

"That is precisely why Congress" passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, he said, "to protect churches against arbitrary and subjective zoning decisions like this."

"I don't think the county will be able to point to any objective reason All Souls was denied," Stanley said.

Stanley said that, while the RLUIPA claims are the primary claims, "there are some other constitutional claims that we have made as well," in regard to the standards the county uses to make zoning determinations. "Mainly that those standards just allow for arbitrary and subjective decisions that can be unlawful," he said.

Coweta County's zoning ordinance allows churches to be located in almost any zoning district, as long as they have a conditional use permit.

Churches can locate by right -- that is, without a conditional use permit -- in the Office and Institutional District, and certain commercial districts, including Commercial Limited Services if the church is under 5,000 square feet, and C-6, Commercial Minor Shopping, if the church is under 25,000 square feet, according to the county's zoning ordinance.

Many churches in Coweta, however, are located in areas zoned Rural Conservation or some other residential zoning.

Stanley said ADF has reviewed the zoning code.

"The main thing that we are focusing on with this suit is protecting the church and other churches from being subjected to arbitrary zoning decisions -- because that is what happened here," he said. "It is difficult to understand why All Souls was denied zoning approval to locate on this property when every objective criteria used to decide these issues pointed in favor of granting their application."

All Souls wasn't the only African-American church denied a permit by Coweta County in 2010.

In June, the commissioners voted 3-1 to deny a conditional use permit for Holiness is the Way Ministries.

The church had requested a permit to build on 10 acres on Ga. Hwy. 16 East, near Old Highway 16.

Holiness is the Way had planned to build a 24,000-square-foot building with an 8,345-square-foot sanctuary and a 10,000-square-foot gymnasium.

At the public hearing, the commissioners heard from residents of Short Road who were opposed to the church. The back of the church property touched Short Road, but the church itself would have been located approximately 650 feet from Short Road.

One Short Road resident said the church "doesn't need to be sitting among residential houses."

Unlike All Souls, Holiness is the Way had not yet purchased the property it sought to locate on. The pastor told the commissioners he was willing to not build the gym as long as he could get the church.

Then-Commission Chairman Paul Poole made the motion for denial. Lassetter and Collins also voted in favor of denial, while Brooks was opposed. Al Smith was not in attendance at that meeting.

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3/15/2012