Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenas Nuevas v. City of Yuma

The City of Yuma, Arizona (defendant) sought to revitalize its Old Town District (the district) as an entertainment district. Pursuant to this effort, Yuma implemented a regulation that required religious organizations and schools to obtain a conditional-use permit to operate in the district. Notably, regulations allowed membership organizations, except religious organizations, to operate in the district without a conditional-use permit. Many other land uses were allowed to operate in the district without a permit, such as jails and tax-exempt museums. Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenas Nuevas (Centro Familiar) (plaintiff), a church, purchased a vacant building in the district. As a religious organization, Centro Familiar needed a conditional-use permit to operate within the district, so it applied to the City Planning and Zoning Commission (the commission) for a permit. Neighboring property owners opposed the permit because it would not fit in with the efforts to revitalize the district as an entertainment district. A major concern regarding the presence of a church was that state law prohibited new bars, nightclubs, or liquor stores within 300 feet of a church (but not all religious institutions) or a K–12 school, so Centro Familiar’s presence would prevent the issuance of a liquor license for nearby properties. The commission denied Centro Familiar’s permit application, finding that a church would be inconsistent with the redevelopment goals of the district and citing the liquor-license issue as a pivotal factor. Centro Familiar filed an action for a declaratory judgment, seeking invalidation of the zoning regulation treating churches and secular membership organizations differently because it violated the equal-terms provision of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (the religious-land-use act). The district court entered judgment for Yuma. Centro Familiar appealed.