Justice Department takes on small Idaho town in religious freedom battle over church permit

Yahoo

29-05-2025

The Justice Department accused a small city in northern Idaho of religious discrimination after it denied a zoning permit to a local evangelical church seeking to hold worship services.
The DOJ announced on May 20 it had filed a lawsuit alleging the city of Troy, Idaho, violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) after it denied a conditional use permit to Christ Church to hold services in its downtown C-1 zoning district, where nonreligious assembly uses such as clubs, museums, auditoriums, and art galleries were allowed.
The RLUIPA is federal legislation passed in 2000 that's intended to "protect individuals, houses of worship, and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning and landmarking laws," the DOJ states.
According to the lawsuit, Christ Church, a small but quickly growing evangelical church based in Moscow, Idaho, sought to accommodate its growth in September 2022 by establishing another church campus in the neighboring town of Troy.
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The conservative, evangelical church faced opposition from some in the Moscow community over the years because of its beliefs and influence in the liberal college town, with some residents boycotting businesses tied to the church, according to the Spokesman-Review.
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The church made national headlines in September 2020 after a few of its members were arrested for not wearing masks at an outside worship service protesting the city's mask mandate during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Christ Church allegedly reached out to various locations in Troy to rent on weekends for services, without success. In November 2022, Matt Meyer, an elder at the church and Troy resident, purchased a vacant, former bank in the city's downtown business district with the intention of converting part of the property into a space to be used by the church for worship services and church meetings, while the other part of the property would be rented out as an event space for the community.
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Meyer applied for a conditional use permit and told the city he failed to find another suitable space to hold services in Troy. In his application, he said there would be little impact on the surrounding businesses and his purchase of the vacant building would bring in property tax revenue for the city.
After holding a public hearing on the matter where locals expressed strong opposition to the permit request, the Troy City Council rejected the church's application in March of that year.
According to the DOJ, the city council denied the permit on the basis that the church "did not enhance the commercial district."
Furthermore, the city council argued the majority of locals were against granting the church a permit in this zone and the decision would burden residents and businesses by creating traffic and parking issues in the city, whose population is fewer than 1,000 people.
In their lawsuit filed on Christ Church's behalf, the DOJ questioned how the city justified the denial on the basis of several of its arguments.
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The lawsuit questioned why the city told Meyer he could use the building for other community events, which had no retail purpose, and these would be considered to "enhance the commercial district" and be allowed under the city's zoning law.
They claimed the city did not conduct a traffic study, or offer conditions that could be imposed on the church to ameliorate the traffic and parking concerns.
Many of the public comments at the public hearing demonstrated "animus and discrimination against Christ Church, its members, and their religious beliefs," the lawsuit also claimed.
The DOJ lawsuit accuses the city of Troy of violating RLUIPA by not treating Christ Church on "equal treatment" with nonreligious assemblies through its zoning code, by imposing a "substantial burden" on the church's religious exercise and by discriminating against Christ Church on the "basis of religion."
City of Troy attorney Todd Richardson rejected the DOJ's discrimination allegations in an interview with Fox News Digital. He said they've allowed Christ Church to hold services in the building for the past two years, while the investigation has been ongoing, and they have cooperated fully with federal investigators.
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The city attorney accused the Justice Department of using "bullying tactics" to try to force their hand.
The case isn't about religion, he said, but about the city preserving the two-block downtown area as a commercial district and resisting the influx of as many as 15% of its population gathering at one location and putting a "strain on the city's limited resources."
"We have no complaints about Christ Church being in town. We have concerns about overwhelming that zone," he said.
Matt Meyer, the elder at Christ Church who filed a complaint with the DOJ over the dispute, told Fox News Digital that the church would be happy to work with the city to accommodate any of its concerns, such as parking restrictions, but city leaders "have never asked us for any sort of conditions" to do so.
He found the city's allegations about parking and impacting businesses unfounded, saying many of the buildings in this downtown area are vacant, and the town is "largely empty" on Sunday mornings.
Meyer attended the public hearing where many residents spoke out against the church permit being granted. He referred to the hostile comments made by some in the community toward the church, as mentioned in the DOJ lawsuit, to argue they likely played a role in the city council's decision.
"It seems logical that elected officials could be influenced by a vocal group of residents even if that group is a minority, but I can't read the mind of the city council," he said.
In April 2025, Troy passed an interim zoning ordinance that changed many of the previously permitted uses in the business district to "not permitted," including auditoriums, community centers, civic and fraternal organizations, parks, playgrounds, schools, museums, libraries, and movie theaters, and prohibits churches as a conditional use, according to the lawsuit.
In its press release, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said, "RLUIPA unequivocally forbids local governments from deciding zoning matters based on their dislike of certain religious groups. The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that discriminate in land use matters on the basis of the applicants' religious beliefs."
Christ Church pastor Douglas Wilson told Fox News Digital that public backlash to his opinions shouldn't be a factor in how city leaders treat his church.
"The content of things that I say should have nothing to do with whether a church is allowed to meet. You don't approve a religious assembly based upon your disagreement with certain views expressed."
The Justice Department told Fox News Digital it did not have further comment on the matter.Original article source: Justice Department takes on small Idaho town in religious freedom battle over church permit