Written by Nancy Gaarder (The Omaha World-Herald), Christopher Burbach (Douglas County Board & Douglas Planning Board) on the The Omaha World-Herald, and reposted here. Click HERE for original article.
A small Christian church in a fight with the Village Board of tiny Walthill, Nebraska, has picked up a powerful ally — the United States of America.
Light of the World Gospel Ministries wants to build a church in the Main Street business district of Walthill, a village of just under 800 people that’s within the Omaha Indian Reservation in northeast Nebraska.
The congregation has been locked in a battle with the board and the village’s planning commission for more than five years. The congregation filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the village was violating the U.S. Constitution and a federal law called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
Congress passed the law 20 years ago to keep local governments from using zoning ordinances to discriminate against religious organizations.
The federal government jumped into the small-town Nebraska fray Thursday. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the Village of Walthill in federal court in Omaha. The government, siding with the congregation, alleges that the village’s policies and its leaders’ denial of a church building permit and other actions have violated federal law.
The congregation has been in Walthill since 2007 and says in court documents that about 200 people attend services. Its leaders say it has outgrown the former funeral home where services are held.
The federal act that the Walthill congregation is invoking has been applied frequently across the nation in disputes over construction or expansion of churches, mosques, synagogues and related services.
It’s relatively rare for the DOJ to file a lawsuit in those cases, said Daniel Dalton, a Michigan attorney who specializes in religious land-use cases.
But the Walthill case is typical of those in which the DOJ does intervene, Dalton said.
“When they do file suit, it’s when there’s a really strong case,” he said. “… You never want to be on the other side of the v. from the United States.”
Dalton said the Walthill situation follows a pattern, often involving small towns or suburbs, in which there’s “a really defective zoning ordinance that violates federal law and a defective approval process that violates federal law.”
He said the DOJ has pursued enforcement of the act differently under different presidential administrations. Some people thought that the Trump administration would have a more singular focus on cases involving Christian organizations. But that has not been the case, Dalton said.
The government’s focus has been more on the strength of the case than on the religion involved, he said.
Walthill Village Board members could not be reached for comment Friday.
A person who answered the phone at the village office referred questions to its attorney, Jason Grams in Omaha.
“Walthill does not comment on pending litigation,” Grams said.
In court filings, the village’s lawyers contended that the village has not violated the federal land use law and that it was furthering the compelling government interest of public health and safety through its zoning policies and practices.
The Walthill case dates back to 2013. The church bought several lots across the street from its meeting hall for an expanded building. At that time, the Village Board approved the permits needed for the church, but then revoked them in June 2014.
Board members said the commercial area of Main Street should be reserved for businesses.
At a 2014 meeting, four people from Walthill testified that some of the church’s proselytizing had been offensive to Native Americans.
The church has denied that. The residents’ testimony, and the Village Board’s reaction to it, is part of the court case.
On Friday, Sherry Moniz, one of the four who testified, said someone had brought to the meeting a recording of a Light of the World Gospel Ministries leader saying racist things about Native Americans.
Church officials have denied making such comments. They could not be reached for comment Friday.
Moniz said she’s not against the church, although she thinks that with six or seven churches, Walthill “has enough churches already.” But she said she is against using Main Street business district property for it.
“We’re already a poor county, and for them to think that it’s OK for them to file a lawsuit because they’re not getting their way to be on Main Street, I don’t understand,” Moniz said. “Build it off of Main Street.”
According to the federal lawsuit, the village’s actions placed an undue burden on the church and resulted in the congregation being treated unfairly compared with other groups in Walthill.
The lawsuit notes that other entities have been allowed to build structures in the business district. Since revoking the congregation’s special building permit in 2014, the Village Board has approved the relocation of the library to Main Street and construction of a clinic on Main Street, the lawsuit notes.
According to a 2018 lawsuit by the church, some village leaders have said they want to reserve Main Street for industrial redevelopment by the Omaha Tribe.
Court documents indicate that the majority of the Village Board were members of the Omaha Tribe at the time the board revoked the church’s permit.
Additionally, according to court documents, at least one Village Board member has expressed concern about a church, which doesn’t pay taxes, occupying space in a commercial district that could be used by a taxpaying entity. The board member has expressed a preference for the church to build in a residential area.
The issue has been simmering for several years, and relations between the community and congregation have been tense. Church members have alleged that bricks have been thrown at them and, on at least one occasion, that a congregant’s tires were slashed.
In 2018, First Liberty Institute, a national law firm specializing in religious freedom, helped the church file its federal lawsuit against Walthill. That suit is pending. Roger Byron, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, welcomed the DOJ’s intervention.
“It’s time for Village of Walthill officials to reverse their unlawful decisions that keep our client from revitalizing a run-down part of Main Street,” he said.
Excerpt © Copyright 2022 Omaha World-Herald, 1314 Douglas St., Suite 1500 Omaha, NE 68102