First Covenant Church of Seattle v. Seattle

787 P.2d 1352 (1990)

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First Covenant Church of Seattle v. Seattle

Washington Supreme Court
787 P.2d 1352 (1990)

  • Written by Jody Stuart, JD

Facts

First Covenant Church of Seattle (Covenant) (plaintiff) owned and operated a church building used exclusively for religious purposes. The City of Seattle (city) (defendant) then designated the church as a landmark. Under a landmark-preservation ordinance and a landmark-designation ordinance, Covenant was required to obtain city approval before changing the church’s exterior. The application of the ordinances to the church greatly diminished the church’s property value. The landmark-designation ordinance provided that proposed changes to the church’s exterior based on liturgy would be approved, but only after Covenant submitted its plans to and negotiated possible alternatives with the city. Covenant brought an action in state trial court against the city, asserting that the application of the landmark ordinances to churches was unconstitutional. In a motion for summary judgment, the city stated that the explicit liturgical exception in the landmark-designation ordinance meant that changes to Covenant’s church exterior for religious purposes were exempt from the usual approval requirement. The trial court granted the city’s summary judgment. Covenant appealed, and the court of appeals certified the appeal.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Dore, J.)

Concurrence (Utter, J.)

Dissent (Dolliver, J.)

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