A federal judge has ruled in favor of a newly opened mosque in Troy, Michigan, that sued the city four years after it was denied a zoning variance request so the facility could be built in 2018.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds on Wednesday ruled that Troy's zoning ordinance violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) as it relates to the new Adam Community Center and set a Nov. 9 hearing date to address damages.
The Adam center, a religious nonprofit assembly seeking to serve Troy's Muslim community, opened earlier in September on Rochester Road despite unresolved lawsuits with the city.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which filed a lawsuit against the city in 2018, welcomed Edmunds' ruling and said the group is looking toward a trial.
"The judge's decision confirms that every faith community has a fundamental right to have a place to worship close to home," CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid said. "The judge sent a clear message to the city of Troy that it must answer for its actions denying Muslims access to a single place of worship for all these years."
In its lawsuit, CAIR-MI claimed the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by denying the Community Center's request for a zoning variance that would allow the city's first mosque to be built. They also claimed that Troy treated Adam differently than other religious and non-religious assemblies and violated the First, Fifth and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. constitution.
Following the November hearing, pretrial dates are set for December with a trial on the remaining claims set to begin on Jan. 19. Troy is still considering its options, according to city attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm.
"The City is considering its options, which may include an appeal," Bluhm wrote in an email. "These cases are still pending, with additional dates pending."
The RLUIPA is a federal law that prevents governments from unreasonably limiting the construction of religious structures, institutions and assemblies. Troy's land use regulation violates the equal terms provision of the act and the city placed "a substantial burden on Adam's religious exercise without expressing a compelling governmental interest," Edmunds said in her ruling.
The U.S. Department of Justice also filed a lawsuit against Troy in 2019 with the same RLUIPA claims as CAIR-MI and the cases were combined. Edmunds ruled against Troy in March, allowing the mosque to be built four years after their initial request was denied.
Edmunds said the RLUIPA is meant to protect institutions such as the Adams Community Center from zoning discrimination that "lurks behind such vague and universally applicable reasons as traffic, aesthetics, or 'not consistent with the city's land use plan.'"
"Judge Edmund's decision in March of this year and reiterated yesterday confirms that Troy had no legitimate basis for denying Adam's request to open a mosque in its current location, and we hope that the city will reflect on the harm caused to Adam Community Center over the past four years," CAIR-MI Staff Attorney Amy Doukoure said in a press release.
"Hopefully, this decision will push the city to resolve the remaining legal claims, make Adam Community Center whole and put an end to the time when Troy fought to keep Muslims out of their city."
