Court Issues Permanent Injunction In RLUIPA Land Use Case

In Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City v. City of Mission Woods, (D KS, May 10, 2019), a Kansas federal district court issued a permanent injunction requiring the city of Mission Woods to approve the Catholic Archdiocese's land use application to allow it to convert a house next door to St. Rose Church into a meeting house.  In the case, a jury had found that the city violated the equal terms provisions of RLUIPA and awarded damages.  But the jury found for defendants on the Archdiocese's RLUIPA substantial burden and nondiscrimination claims, its First Amendment claims, and its Kansas state law claims. The court here held that, nevertheless, this amounts to success on the merits which supports the grant of an injunction. The court rejected defendant's argument that limited success on the merits is not enough to support an injunction.