Atlanta: Bars, restaurants welcome, but churches—look elsewhere

ATLANTA — Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys filed suit Thursday against the city of Atlanta for refusing to permit a church to use its leased property for religious purposes.  Because of the city’s unlawful zoning restrictions, the church has undergone severe hardship and is on the verge of closing its doors.

“Churches should not be singled out for discrimination by a city’s zoning restrictions,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman, who is serving as local counsel in the case.  “The city of Atlanta has illegally obstructed Kingdom First Ministries from using its leased property simply because it won’t generate property tax revenue.”

In November 2007, Kingdom First Ministries leased property in Atlanta’s West End, which was zoned for churches.  In the process of applying for a business license the next month, the church was told the area was rezoned and required a special use permit, which the city subsequently denied.

The lawsuit argues that the city of Atlanta has been illegally prohibiting Kingdom First Ministries from using its property for nine months, in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.  RLUIPA is a federal law that protects churches from discrimination in land use disputes with local governments.

“Atlanta is full of hurting people,” said ADF-allied attorney John Mauck, of the Chicago law firm Mauck & Baker, LLC.  “Should government spend millions on police and social services while spurning the offer of churches such as Kingdom First to provide the compassion and healing of Jesus Christ?”

With tens of thousands of dollars spent on the lease and furnishings, along with a severe drop in attendance due to its current substandard meeting place, KFM has had to cancel most of its ministries and is on the brink of shutting down.

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.