Catholic School Wins Temporary Injunction Against New Zoning Restrictions

In Notre Dame Academy, Inc. v. City of Suwanee, Georgia, (Super. Ct., Gwinett Co. GA, May 23, 2008), a Georgia state trial court issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the city of Suwanee, Georgia from enforcing its moratorium on accepting building or development permits. It also barred the city from adopting new special use permit requirements that had been proposed. The court found that the moratorium and proposed permit requirement infringe the religious exercise rights of Notre Dame Academy, a Catholic elementary school that intends to purchase land to relocate its school to Suwanee. Imposing the moratorium on the religious school, the court said, would violate several provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Alliance Defense fund issued a press release on Friday discussing the decision.