Fairfax County, VA Times - Church Suing County Over Freedom of Religion Claim

July 12, 2006 
By: Stefan Cornibert, The Fairfax County, VA Times

McLean Bible Church is suing Fairfax County in federal court, claiming the county has violated the church's constitutional right to freedom of religion.
The lawsuit was filed July 3 on behalf of the church by the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative constitutional rights group.

The case centers around a series of university-level seminary classes the church once held on its expansive 51-acre campus on Leesburg Pike just west of Tysons Corner.

County zoning officials took issue with the classes in December 2005, ruling that the development guidelines for the church do not allow it to operate like a college. The church appealed the decision in June 2006, but the appeal was rejected. Church leaders argued the classes are an integral part of their ministry.

"The substance of the case is that the county is getting into deciding what the church can and cannot do, should and should not do," said Stuart Mendelsohn, an attorney who represented the church in its appeal before the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Mendelsohn also happens to be a former county supervisor who oversaw the decision allowing the church to move to its current home. He is not actively participating in this new lawsuit, but he continues to advise the church.

To hold the classes, the county zoning board told church officials they would have to apply for a special exception to the zoning rules, a route the church is unwilling to pursue.

"That would open the church up to county development conditions," said Mendelsohn, referring to the additional county reviews and public hearings that would be required. "We don't want that."

Attorneys for the American Center for Law and Justice charge the county has used zoning laws to stand in the way of the church's constitutional rights.

"If the government thinks the church requires a permit, it is incumbent on the government to be able to show a compelling and significant reason for that, and they have not," said Colby May, senior counsel and director of the center's Washington office.

Much of the church's case, said justice center attorney Jay Sekulow, rests on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

"When the government acts to ban religious activity through zoning or land use regulations, the RLUIPA law requires it to show it has a compelling, overriding interest supporting its action," Sekulow said. "Fairfax County has made no such showing, and its holding that the church must now be qualified as a college or university in order to hold Bible study and seminary level classes, which requires a different use permit, also violates the anti-discrimination portion of the law."

He added that "other churches in the county hold the same or similar classes and commercial businesses have been permitted to conduct degree-credit classes without first obtaining a permit as a college or university."

County attorneys had no response to the lawsuit. They briefed the county Board of Supervisors about the case in executive session at Monday's meeting. Supervisor Joan DuBois (R-Dranesville) could not be reached for comment afterward.

Zoning authorities said there is no evidence other churches are holding similar classes.

"They made the claim that all kinds of churches have classes like the ones they had," said Mavis Stanfield, deputy zoning administrator for appeals. "We haven't seen anything like that."

She added that, if there are churches conducting such classes, "they aren't operating within the regulatory realm."

Mendelsohn said church officials "feel the county singled out McLean Bible Church, mainly because of a few outspoken neighbors."

McLean Bible Church has become a lightning rod of criticism since it relocated from Balls Hill Road in north McLean to the former National Wildlife Federation campus on Leesburg Pike a few years ago. Neighbors have complained about the church's expanding size and the related traffic.

"We never envisioned there would be university classes there," said Alan Caldwell, a representative of the Wolf Trap Woods Homeowners Association, who lives nearby. "The various homeowners associations will follow this lawsuit very closely. This is of significant concern to the people who live there."

The American Center for Law and Justice's May said neighborhood complaints are a "red herring" used to distract from the constitutional issues of the case.

"We're sorry it came to this level," he added.