Phillips Supply Co. v. Cincinnati Board of Zoning Appeals

City Gospel Mission (Gospel) (defendant) operated a homeless shelter and sought to relocate the shelter to a new facility at a property on Dalton Avenue in Cincinnati. Gospel also sought to operate related services on an adjacent property on York Street. Gospel planned to offer a daily 45-minute chapel service at the homeless shelter. The chapel was to take up 4.4 percent of the Dalton property’s square footage. Gospel’s services at the York property were guided by religious principles, but the services themselves were part of a program to provide recreation, food, and employment counseling for homeless persons. The properties were zoned manufacturing general (MG district), so the city passed an ordinance that approved the operation of a special-assistance shelter on the Dalton Street property. Next, the city issued building permits to Gospel for the two properties. Phillips Supply Company (Phillips) (plaintiff) appealed the issuance of the building permits to the Cincinnati Board of Zoning Appeals (board) (defendant). Phillips argued that the Dalton property’s principal use was a religious assembly, which was a prohibited use in the MG district, and that the York property’s principal use was a community-service facility, which was also a prohibited use in the MG district. The city code defined a special-assistance shelter as a facility for short-term housing of individuals who are homeless and who may require special services. The city code defined religious assembly as an establishment for religious worship. The board upheld the issuance of the permits, finding that the Dalton property met the definition of a special-assistance shelter and that the York property’s individual uses were all permitted uses under the zoning ordinance. Phillips appealed to the trial court, which upheld the board’s issuance of the permits. Phillips then appealed the trial court’s judgment.