RLUIPA.org
Victory Family Life Church v. Douglas County
A Georgia state court ruled that Douglas County violated RLUIPA when it refused to allow Victory Family Life Church to expand. The church bought property adjacent to its current home and planned to build a new sanctuary and Sunday School building. The county refused to grant its special land use permit application, citing restrictions which were placed upon houses of worship, but not other types of land uses. The court ruled that this refusal violated RLUIPA: “While the Zoning Ordinance sets forth a 3-acre minimum requirement for SLUPs for religious institutions and accessory facilities, no other type of establishment requiring a SLUP must satisfy a minimum acreage requirement.”