New Jersey Church Has Preliminary RLUIPA Win

In Church of the Hills of Bedminster v. Township of Bedminster, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9488 (DNJ, Feb. 24, 2006) a New Jersey federal district court upheld the constitutionality of the land use provisions of RLUIPA over a wide variety of constitutional attacks, and found that plaintiff's complaint adequately stated a claim under RLUIPA and the Equal Protection Clause,. However, it dismissed plaintiff's due process claim. The decision permits Church of the Hills to move forward in its challenge to a denial of zoning variances sought to accommodate the church's planned expansion.