A district court judge yesterday threw out a lawsuit against the Pitkin County commissioners by the Emma Caucus attempting to block construction of a large church complex amid the sparse, rural Emma landscape.
The suit was filed in January, after the commissioners rescinded their earlier denial of the construction application for Grace Church of the Roaring Fork Valley. The caucus member plaintiffs claimed the project — currently slated to include two church buildings of 8,000 and 3,800 square feet, a 2,400-square-foot residence and a 197-space parking lot — violates the county land-use code and that the commissioners exceeded the limits of their authority in granting its construction. It was brought to federal court, but then sent back to Pitkin County in May.
In a seven-page written ruling, District Court Judge Denise K. Lynch dismissed the lawsuit and upheld the county commissioners’ decision to approve the church, saying that the local land-use code is superseded by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal statute passed in 2000 that eases the path for construction of houses of worship in the U.S.
“It is a lengthy and thoughtful opinion from the court,” said David Kelly, attorney for and member of the plaintiff Emma Caucus. “But one that we obviously disagree with.”
Kelly added that the reason a federal judge in Denver remanded the suit back to Pitkin County earlier this year was that the decision should be governed by local zoning codes, not the federal RLUIPA statute.
In that decision, Chief U.S. District Judge Edward W. Nottingham wrote: “Inspection of the state court complaint discloses that it has nothing to do with federal law,” later adding, “The hearing is one required by zoning ordinance, not federal law.”
Kelly said he thought yesterday’s dismissal “has a lot of ground for appeal,” but that the caucus members have not yet decided what further action, if any, they will take.
Pitkin County Attorney John Ely could not be reached for comment.
The dismissal of the caucus suit may constitute the lifting of the final roadblock to the church’s construction, after a four-year fight.
Earlier this summer, the county commissioners agreed to settle out of court in a separate lawsuit brought against them by the members of Grace Church itself. In June, the commissioners voted to pay Grace Church $325,000 for their legal costs and to dole out $350,000 to the church, in exchange for them agreeing not to apply to develop their land any further over the next decade. The county may also be responsible for paying damages to Grace Church for the long delay of its construction.
In yesterday’s dismissal, Judge Lynch said the county’s out-of-court settlement with Grace Church constitutes an “implicit admission” of violating the religious land-use statute.
That now-settled suit spawned from the county’s denial of the church’s original 2004 application to build two church buildings — of 8,600 and 2,800 square feet — along with a 1,000-square-foot residence and 89 parking spaces on an 18.5-acre former sheep ranch.
Neighbors have complained that the church will mar the rural countryside’s visual character and set a precedent for commercial development in the residential/agricultural area.
Grace Church, formerly Basalt Bible Church, has a 140-person congregation and currently meets in the Eagle County community building in El Jebel.
andrew@aspendailynews.com
