Jesus Christ is the Answer Ministries, Inc. v. Balt. Cnty.

303 F.Supp.3d 378

JESUS CHRIST IS the ANSWER MINISTRIES, INC., et al., Plaintiffs,

v.BALTIMORE COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. RDB–17–3010

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

Signed March 27, 2018

Blair Lazarus Storzer, Roman Paul Storzer, Sieglinde Katherine Rath, Storzer & Associates, P.C., Washington, DC, Lawrence E. Schmidt, Smith Gildea and Schmidt, Towson, MD, for Plaintiffs.

James J. Nolan, Jr, Paul McLane Mayhew, R. Brady Locher, Baltimore County Office of Law, Towson, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Richard D. Bennett, United States District Judge

In the Fall of 2012, Plaintiff Reverend Lucy Ware ("Ware") began improvements on a single-dwelling home to convert it to a house of worship for Jesus Christ is the Answer Ministries, Inc. ("the Church") (collectively, "Plaintiffs"). Upon learning that the improvements did not comply with the Baltimore County Zoning Regulations ("BCZR"), she filed a Petition for a Special Hearing and zoning variances with the Defendant Board of Appeals of Baltimore County ("the Board") to approve a site plan for the Church. The Board denied the Petition, finding in part that the plan did not minimally comply to the extent possible with certain BCZR requirements. On appeal to the Circuit Court for Baltimore County and then ultimately to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the Board's findings were affirmed. While the appeal was pending, Ware filed a second Petition which the Board ultimately denied on September 13, 2017 on the basis of res judicata .

One month later, Plaintiffs filed suit in this Court against the Board and Baltimore County, Maryland (collectively, "Defendants") stemming from the denial of the second petition. Plaintiffs allege violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 ("RLUIPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc et seq. (Counts I and II); the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Count IV); the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Count V); Article 36 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights (Count VII); and seek judicial review of the Board's September 13, 2017 Opinion and Order (Count IX).¹ Currently pending before this Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, or in the alternative, for Summary Judgment.² (ECF No. 10.) The parties' submissions have been reviewed and no hearing is necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2016). For the following reasons, Defendants' Motion to Dismiss or, in the alternative, for Summary Judgment, construed as a Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 10), is GRANTED and Plaintiffs' claims are DISMISSED.

BACKGROUND

When reviewing a motion to dismiss, this Court accepts as true the facts alleged in the plaintiff's complaint. See Aziz v. Alcolac, Inc. , 658 F.3d 388, 390 (4th Cir. 2011). In 1992, Reverend Ware ("Ware"), a native of Kenya, established Jesus Christ is the Answer Ministries, Inc. (the "Church") in Baltimore, Maryland. (Compl., ECF No. 1 at ¶¶ 12–13.) The Church is a nondenominational, multicultural Christian church with associated churches in Kenya and Seychelles. (Id. at ¶¶ 15, 18–19.) According to the Complaint, ten years later in 2002, the Church consisted of ten or less members. (Id. at ¶ 22.) This small group started meeting at Ware's home in Baltimore County, Maryland. (Id. at ¶ 21.) Over the next ten years, the Church grew beyond a mere ten members and met at different locations including an elementary school and hotel. (Id. at ¶¶ 23–33.) In 2008, Ware and other Church officials began fundraising and looking for a property for a house of worship. (Id. at ¶¶ 34–36.) In August of 2012, Ware identified 4512 Old Court Road, Baltimore, Maryland (the "Property") as a potential location, and was told by a realtor that a church was a permitted use on the Property. (Id. at ¶¶ 37–38.) On August 31, 2012, Ware purchased the Property. (Id. at ¶ 39.)

The Property is approximately 1.2 acres in size, and contains a 2,900 square foot structure previously used as a home. (Id. at ¶ 42.) Without checking any applicable zoning regulations, Ware converted three rooms of the dwelling into a worship area, added two bathrooms, replaced the roof, and replaced a small deck. (Id. at ¶¶ 54–55.) In addition, Ware created a new, gravel parking area at the rear of the house and planted Cypress trees to line the new parking area. (Id. at ¶¶ 57–58.) In October of 2012, the Church held its first service, a cookout, and a party. (Id. at ¶¶ 60–61.) Local residents subsequently complained about the events to the County. (Id. at ¶ 62.) On November 8, 2012, the County informed Ware that the Property could not be used as a church until it complied with Baltimore County Zoning Regulations ("BCZR"). (Id. at ¶ 63.)

The Property is zoned "Density Residential 3.5." (Id. at ¶ 40.) The relevant BCZR that apply to the Property were summarized by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in Ware v. People's Counsel for Baltimore County , 223 Md.App. 669, 117 A.3d 628 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2015) :

Article 1B of the BCZR governs DR Zones in Baltimore County. A church or any other building used for religious worship is a use "permitted as of right" in a DR zone. § 1B01.1.A.3. Even a permitted use in a DR zone must comply with section 1B01.1.B, however, which establishes "[d]welling-type and other supplementary use restrictions based on existing subdivision and development characteristics." One such restriction pertains to residential transition areas ("RTA"), which are buffer and screening areas. § 1B01.1.B.1. An RTA is a "one-hundred-foot area, including any public road or public right-of-way, extending from a D.R. zoned tract boundary into the site to be developed." § 1B01.1.B.1.a(1).

As relevant here, an RTA is "generated" if the property "to be developed is zoned D.R. and lies adjacent to land zoned ... D.R.3.5 [or] D.R.5.5" containing a "single-family detached ... dwelling within 150 feet of the tract boundary." § 1B01.1.B.1.b. A property owner may seek a variance from the RTA buffer requirements, but only if 1) the variance is recommended by certain County agencies or 2) there is a finding at a development review hearing, pursuant to Article 32, subtitle 4 of the County Code ("the Code"), that a modification to the RTA satisfies compatibility criteria and that a reduction in the RTA "will not adversely impact the residential community ... adjacent to the property to be developed." § 1B01.1.B.1.c.

An RTA "use is any use" permitted as of right or by special exception in the zone or "[a]ny [business or industrial] parking area permitted under Section 409.8.B subject to the approval of a specific landscape plan for the buffer area which must meet the requirements for a Class A plan." § 1B01.1.B.1.d.

Section 1B01.1.B.1.e establishes the "[c]onditions" in an RTA. Any single-family detached, semi-detached, or duplex dwelling is permissible within an RTA. A "parking lot" must be "set back from the tract boundary 75 feet and provide a fifty-foot RTA buffer." § 1B01.1.B.1.e(2). The "buffer" must be an "upgraded, uncleared, landscaped buffer" and may not contain drainage areas, stormwater management ponds, or accessory structures, unless otherwise directed by the hearing officer upon the recommendation of the County. § 1B01.1.B.1.e(3).

There are "[e]xceptions to residential transition" that, if applicable, eliminate the "conditions" set forth above for a proposed site plan. § 1B01.1.B.1.g. Four of the exceptions pertain to churches. As relevant here, subsection (6) excepts a "new church or other building for religious worship, the site plan for which has been approved after a public hearing in accordance with Section 500.7" if there is a finding that "the proposed improvements are planned in such a way that compliance, to the extent possible with RTA use requirements, will be maintained and that said plan can otherwise be expected to be compatible with the character and general welfare of the surrounding residential premises.

Id. at 673–75, 117 A.3d 628 (emphasis in original). If a petitioner requests a hearing, the Baltimore County Code also provides that a governmental entity called the "People's Counsel" may advocate a position contrary to the religious land use. (ECF No. 1 at ¶ 95.)

In response to the November 8, 2012 notice from Baltimore County, on December 21, 2012, Ware filed a Petition for a Special Hearing and zoning variances (" Ware I "). (Id. at ¶ 99.) The Ware I Petition sought:

1) To allow a new church for religious worship on the subject property per section 1B01.1B1g(6) (BCZR)

2) To allow a residential transition area (RTA) buffer of 0 feet in lieu of the required 50 feet per section 1B01.1B1e(5) (BCZR)

3) To allow a residential transition area (RTA) setback of 0 feet in lieu of the required75 feet from a track boundary to a parking lot or structure per section 1B01.1B1e(5) (BCZR)

(ECF No. 10–2 at 639; ECF No. 1 at ¶¶ 100–03, 113.) Notably, item one sought approval for a site plan of a new church under BCZR § 1B01.1B1g(6). The Ware I Petition also sought variances from three parking regulations. (ECF No. 10–2 at 639; ECF No. 1 at ¶ 103.)

In January of 2013, the "People's Counsel" entered its appearance in the case. (Id. at ¶ 104.) On February 5, 2013, the County Director of the Department of Planning indicated that he did not oppose the petition, "provided a landscape and signage plan is submitted to the department for review and approval." (Id. at ¶ 105.) On February 27, 2013, a hearing was held before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), with People's Counsel and nearby residents, "the Protestants,"³ present. (Id. at ¶¶ 104, 106–107.) During the proceeding, Plaintiffs claim that the Protestants made the following comments directed at Reverend Ware and the Church:

[D]ancing and hollering like they are [sic ] back at their home back in Africa somewhere.... She can come over here from Africa ... branch out from another church and put all of this in our

...