4th Circuit - RLUIPA - First Amendment - Land Use A church bought property in an Agricultural District with strict regulations that attempt to protect the agricultural nature of the district and limiting uses to agricultural purposes absent some approvals. The Church received an approval called a Special Use Permit but was unable to raise sufficient funds to comply immediately. Thus, the Church sought to find ways around the limitations. One idea for it to use the property for religious purposes and construct a house of worship was to claim it was operating a winery, but the county told the Church it would need an ABC permit authorizing that purpose. The Church sued claiming RLUIPA violations and First Amendment violations. The District Court had little faith in the complaint, so dismissed it. The 4th Circuit affirmed. One key to the decision seemed to be the legislative purpose of the District which did not discriminate against religion in its purpose to promote the retention of agricultural uses within the District. If you're involved in a RLUIPA matter, this seems like a great case for the government and one that offers some really good analysis of the various aspects of RLUIPA complaints. Alive Church of the Nazarene, Inc. vs. Prince William County, 212392.P.pdf (uscourts.gov)<https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/212392.P.pdf> Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Of Counsel P: (202) 466-5424 x7110 M: (240) 876-6790 D: (202) 742-1016 [facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/InternationalMunicipalLawyersAssociation/>[twitter icon]<https://twitter.com/imlalegal>[linkedin icon]<https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-municipal-lawyers-association-inc./> [logo]<https://imla.org/> 51 Monroe St. Suite 404 Rockville, MD, 20850 www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org/> Plan Ahead! IMLA's 2022 Mid-Year Seminar<https://imla.org/seminars/>, April 8-11, 2022 in Washington, D.C.! IMLA's 2022 Annual<https://imla.org/annual-conference/> Conference, October 19-23, 2022 in Portland, OR! Check out our On-Demand webinar library<https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/shopping/shopping.aspx?site=imla&webcode=shopping&cart=0&shopsearchCat=Merchandise&productCat=Webinar> with 100+ webinars at your fingertips.