Update December 8th: On December 7th, the Mission City Council reversed itself and voted to allow the conditional use permit necessary for the LDS Church to build a chapel in Mission; updated post HERE.
A group of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have filed suit in federal court against the city of Mission, Texas for obstructing plans to construct a chapel on a five-acre plot on the corner of Bryan Road and 2 Mile Line in Mission. The suit claims the city is violating their religious freedom.
The dispute has been continuing for nearly a year. The LDS group claims the city has blocked the move by changing the voting rules for permit approval, and that at least one member of the council had a conflict of interest in voting on the issue. A subsequent story by The Monitor reveals that the council member in question is Norie Gonzalez Garza, whose real estate company represented the neighbors who opposed the construction of the chapel in their neighborhood because they wanted to keep the area residential and avoid lowering their property values.
-- Read the 25-page suit document HERE
-- Read the three-page Notice of Claim sent to the city on August 23rd HERE.
Even more background was published by The Monitor back on September 15th, 2011. When the local stake announced their plans to buy the land and build a chapel, they sought a conditional use permit. However, nine of the 12 landowners located within 200 feet of the property signed a petition against the church because they wanted to preserve the rural nature of the area and that the size of the building and the parking lot were too big and would attract too much traffic.
Lawyers for the LDS Church contend that Mission violated its own ordinances in the vote. Mission law states that if at least 20 percent of neighbors to a property within an area with a proposed zoning change have signed a petition against it, at least 75 percent of the council will have to approve it. But the church argues that it was asking for a conditional use permit and not a zoning change, so the ordinance does not apply.
The local stake took steps to address the concerns of the neighbors through landscaping 30 percent of the property with limited outdoor lighting designed to not affect neighbors. Architect Bob Simpson explained that the area is changing with the widening of Mile 2 Road, and the construction of a church at that intersection of well-traveled roads would be a more compatible and passive influence than any potential commercial use in the future.
Because of the petition, four out of five City Council members had to vote for the zoning change, and both times the permit went before council, in December 2010 and in June 2011, only three members voted in favor. Both times, Councilwomen Norie Garza and Maria Elena Ramirez voted against the permit. Nevertheless, the LDS Church purchased the five-acre plot back on August 18th, as the stake president, Brice Chandler, was inspired by this particular location.
The local stake then sent a notice of claim sent to the city on August 23rd, giving them 40 days to reverse the decision. The city failed to do so, and now it goes to court. The local stake is citing the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act as justification for their suit. In addition to being awarded costs and reasonable attorney's fees, the LDS Church seeks the following remedies:
-- (1) Annulling the City Council’s December 20, 2010 and June 13, 2011 votes, which denied the Church approval to contrast a house of worship consistent with its religious needs as a violation of TRFRA, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 110.003;
-- (2) Annulling the City Council’s December 20, 2010 and June 13, 2011 votes, which denied the Church approval to construct a house of worship consistent with its religious needs as a violation of RLUIPA, 42 USC § 2000cc(a);
-- (3) Annulling the City Council’s December 20, 2010 and June 13, 2011 votes, which denied the Church approval to construct a house of worship consistent with its religious needs as violations of the federal and state constitutions;
-- (4) Directing the Defendants to grant the Church all necessary permits and approvals to construct and operate its church, subject only to reasonable conditions and safeguards within forty-five (45) days of the entry of the Order and Judgment.
The new chapel would accommodate the Mission First and Second Wards, both of which currently meet at a chapel in McAllen which is also occupied by two additional wards, including the Mission Third Ward, a Spanish-speaking ward. All these wards are grouped under the McAllen Texas West Stake.
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