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CLA has served Bible-believing churches and Christians since 1969. CLA provides free legal services based in part on the generosity of God's people. Your contribution to CLA is 501(c)(3) tax deductible.
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Can A Church Use Its Property? |
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 Consider the story of Pastor Sheldon and the church he pastors. (These names and the following situation have been fictionalized for purposes of illustration.) After ministering for seventeen years at the same church in his community, Pastor Sheldon was excited to see the Lord moving and growing the ministry. When Mr. Donnelly, a local businessman, offered to donate a large parcel of commercial property located on the other side of town, Pastor Sheldon was ecstatic! Attendance was at an all-time high, but the church’s facilities were limited. Mr. Donnelly’s generous gift would provide much- needed space for new Sunday school classrooms and exciting ministry expansion.
As details for this gift were being finalized, the adjacent land was
also placed on the market. The price was right and church officials
believed they had to move quickly to purchase this “hot” real estate.
The church voted to approve a mortgage to purchase the adjacent
property, and the deal was concluded in just a few days.
When the church hired a local real estate broker to put its current
property on the market, disaster struck. The church learned some very
disheartening news. It was something they should have considered
before accepting the gift or purchasing the adjacent property. Zoning
laws had changed in their community.
While Mr. Donnelly’s donated property had previously been zoned for
commercial uses that included churches, the city council had recently
rezoned this neighborhood for industrial commercial use. Churches were
no longer included. Even worse, the church’s new property would soon
be surrounded by factories with their accompanying noise and
pollution. Home owners in the area were beginning to sell out and
property values were falling rapidly. What was Pastor Sheldon to do?
The church had already purchased the new property and accepted the
gift; but all their exciting plans for expansion were now in jeopardy.
Where did our fictitious Pastor Sheldon go wrong? Like many real
pastors and churches that regularly contact CLA, Pastor Sheldon did not
realize how important it was to review local zoning laws before
acquiring any new property or planning any expansion project. Like
many church leaders, he had incorrectly assumed a church would be
welcome anywhere. Now it was too late to undo the damage without
putting tremendous hardship on the church.
Don’t Find Yourself in Pastor Sheldon’s Shoes!
Like Pastor Sheldon, many pastors who call CLA are shocked to discover
that the government can tell a church what it can and cannot do with
its own property. Generally the first question our CLA attorneys are
asked is: “What ever happened to separation of church and state? This
is our land. We should be able to do whatever we like with it!”
While the notion of government control over church property use seems
at odds with traditional notions of religious freedom and private
property ownership in America, the government does in fact now have the
lawful right to control a variety of matters pertaining to private
property.
Governmental control of property is done primarily through zoning
laws. Our nation saw its first form of zoning laws approved by the
Supreme Court in the 1926 case of Village of Euclid v. Amber Realty
Co. In that decision, the Court ruled for the first time that cities
may enact zoning laws to organize into various “use” districts, with
different uses of property permitted in each district. Since 1926,
zoning laws have become ever more expansive and now affect more and
more property uses.
Today churches can potentially face severe governmental controls on
their property use through local zoning regulations. It is imperative
for every church to review any zoning laws that might impact them
BEFORE purchasing or acquiring property of any kind or engaging in
ministry expansion projects even on existing property.
Legal Rule: Zoning Laws Can and Will Impact Your Church
Every zoning district is assigned a “use” designation by the zoning
code. These uses include designations for residential, commercial,
industrial, or agricultural, etc. The zoning code then defines what
uses are allowed in each zoning district. Some activities are
automatically allowed. For instance, single-family homes are
automatically allowed in a residential district; farms are
automatically allowed in an agricultural area, etc. Other times the
zoning code requires a special permit in order to use the property.
These days, churches are seldom automatically allowed in any zoning
district. More often, they are considered as permitted uses. This
means churches need to seek approval from the local zoning board before
locating or expanding in a zoning district.
This restraint on churches is something relatively new in America.
When zoning laws first became popular, zoning codes had little, if any,
impact on churches. In days gone by (and still in many communities)
the overarching cultural attitude toward churches was positive.
Government officials tended to presume that churches were always good
for a community. Therefore, churches were generally allowed to
automatically locate wherever they pleased; and they were generally
exempted from all zoning requirements. Churches were never “zoned” out
of a community. Today, however, in many communities this once
automatic preference for churches has greatly diminished.
Societal Trend: Churches Are No Longer Favored in America
The government is not required to place zoning barriers in the way of
churches. And local communities should try to make sure that churches
are always automatically included in as many zoning districts as
possible. But consider some of the most common reasons that attitudes
toward churches have changed in America today, particularly as these
more negative attitudes affect a church’s use of its own property under
zoning laws.
• The growth of mega-churches has caused increased land use
problems, including bringing traffic, noise, and sound pollution into
neighborhoods. At latest count, there were more than 1,000 churches in
the United States with weekly attendance over 2,000. That is nearly
double the number that existed 5 years ago. While this is good news
for the growth of these larger churches, it has become bad news for
property zoning.
• With the advent of the mega-church, there has also been an
increased governmental concern for tax revenues. Some communities feel
threatened by increasingly large churches that are exempt from property
taxes even while they occupy large prime land parcels that could
otherwise be used for tax-income generating businesses or homes. When
this concern for tax money is added to a lessened appreciation for the
good that churches do for communities, the result is an increasing
desire to keep churches out in order to bring tax producing property
into the community instead.
• With a growing U.S. population, there is less land available in
many areas. Some land-locked churches have found it difficult to find
property that is zoned for church use. Additionally, zoning laws now
often require churches to apply for special use permits. A number of
churches find themselves engaged in long, expensive legal battles
against zoning permit denials before they are able to begin using their
own property as they like.
• Groups considered bizarre or undesirable by average Americans are
now being termed by courts as “religious,” including groups like
Wiccans or Astrologists. Many local communities do not consider these
groups to be desired neighbors. But if zoning laws allow churches, such
non-mainstream “religious” groups must also be allowed to move into a
neighborhood at will. When zoning codes attempt to keep these groups
out, legitimate churches are also caught in the crossfire and are
required to obtain permits before using their property.
• Churches are no longer open only on Sundays and Wednesday nights.
Many growing churches now have regular ongoing daily activities such as
day care programs, evening and weekend social activities, and Christian
schools. Neighbors sometimes consider large youth programs to be
disruptive. The most problematic church activities are often
humanitarian outreaches to the poor or homeless, which some citizens
believe will attract “undesirable” people to their neighborhoods.
The end result of these new attitudes toward churches, with their
accompanying zoning regulations, means that church leaders must always
know how their property is zoned before going forward with a purchase
or expansion project.
Practical Tip: How Do I Find Information About My Local Zoning Laws?
Every zoning authority, whether a city or a county, has a zoning map on
file showing the boundary lines for each zoning district, and
indicating which uses are automatic, which are banned altogether, and
which require special permits. You can determine how your church’s
property is zoned by locating the property on the map and checking the
corresponding zoning classification for that location. Many
municipality zoning maps are now located online and a quick search can
provide all the pertinent information.
Always remember to check the zoning laws for any property your church
intends to use. Never purchase or accept donated property without
first checking to see how it is zoned. If the zoning district requires
special permits for church use, always make sure to secure the permit
before closing any property deal. You do not want to own property you
cannot use.
If you find that you are going to encounter difficulties in being
permitted to use the property you want, that is the time to contact CLA
or a local property attorney. Zoning boards often require extensive
information about anticipated uses before they will approve a use
permit for the property. This is also a time when it helps to have
friends “in high places.” If church leaders are well known and well
respected in the community, the zoning board is far more likely to
easily approve a project or purchase.
Recommended Action: Monitor Proposed Zoning Changes That Impact Your Local Church
Finally, churches need to appoint someone to keep an eye on what local
zoning officials are doing. If a zoning use is going to be changed and
your church is located in that zoning area, you will want to be sure to
protect your use of your property. Zoning boards and local governments
hold hearings before changing zoning districts or laws. You can speak
at these hearings and lobby to protect your property. It is easier to
keep your local government from changing a zoning law than to fight
that law later in court when you want to purchase new property.
Furthermore, even though property uses are “grandfathered” in when
zoning codes change, churches can still encounter difficulties later on
when they decide to build or expand programs even on property they
already own.
There is much more to learn about zoning laws. Not all of it is bad.
Things like “accessory” uses and variances are also available to help
churches and other property owners make the best use of their
property. The point is that you need to learn all of these things
about your property before making final plans for expansions or
purchases. Pastor Sheldon learned these lessons too late to save his
church from a great deal of hardship and financial difficulty. Take a
lesson from this fictional pastor and make sure that you learn all
there is to know about zoning laws in your area before you begin to
build or expand.
Scripture tells us in Luke 14:28: For which of you, intending to build
a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have
sufficient to finish it?” While Dr. Luke certainly did not know
anything about American zoning laws, God’s directive is clearly wise
today for all churches interested in expanding or relocating in their
communities.
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