No. 22-260

Burtonsville Associates, et al. v. Montgomery County, Maryland, et al.

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2022-09-20
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: church-construction equal-terms equal-terms-claim free-exercise religious-exercise religious-land-use rluipa substantial-burden zoning zoning-denial
Key Terms:
SocialSecurity FirstAmendment DueProcess
Latest Conference: 2023-01-06
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Must a congregation prove reasonable expectation of zoning approval to establish substantial burden under RLUIPA?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Must a congregation seeking to build a church prove that it had a reasonable expectation of zoning approval before it can establish that a zoning denial imposed a substantial burden on its religious exercise under RLUIPA, or should substantial burden be established by the totality of the circumstances? 2. Is a congregation precluded as a matter of law from establishing that a zoning denial substantially burdened its religious exercise under RLUIPA if it demonstrates a need for a church with capacity for 2,000 congregants but defendant will only permit an 800-seat church, on the grounds that the zoning denial does not completely prevent it from building a church? 3. To establish an equal terms claim under RLUIPA, must a church identify a secular use given preferential treatment that is identical in all respects to the church’s proposed religious use, or is it sufficient that the secular use and the church’s use implicate the same government regulatory interest? (i)

Docket Entries

2023-01-09
Petition DENIED.
2022-12-07
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/6/2023.
2022-11-21
Brief of respondents Montgomery County, Maryland, et al. in opposition filed.
2022-09-27
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 21, 2022. (30-day extension of time)
2022-09-26
Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 20, 2022 to November 21, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
2022-09-16
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 20, 2022)
2022-07-05
Application (22A9) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until September 16, 2022.
2022-06-30
Application (22A9) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 18, 2022 to September 16, 2022, submitted to The Chief Justice.

Attorneys

Burtonsville Associates and Burtonsville Crossing, LLC
Roman P. StorzerStorzer & Associates, P.C., Petitioner
Roman P. StorzerStorzer & Associates, P.C., Petitioner
Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County Council and Isaiah Leggett
Howard Ross FeldmanSuite 1500, Respondent
Howard Ross FeldmanSuite 1500, Respondent