DOJ settles RLUIPA zoning claim against Atlantic Beach, New York

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

A village zoning code required religious and educational assemblies, but not secular ones, to obtain discretionary permits. This briefing covers the DOJ settlement that followed and the specific obligations it imposes on the Village of Atlantic Beach, relevant to any institution handling land-use disputes involving religious applicants.

• The settlement resolves claims that Atlantic Beach's zoning ordinance violated RLUIPA's equal terms provision by requiring religious and educational assemblies, but not secular ones, to obtain a special exception permit from the Board of Appeals.
• The Village agreed to revise its zoning ordinance to permit religious uses as of right in the Residential (A) district, removing the special exception requirement.
• The settlement requires the Village to train its officials and employees on RLUIPA's requirements.
• The Village must establish a procedure for receiving and resolving RLUIPA complaints.
• The settlement follows resolution of a private lawsuit brought by Chabad of the Beaches, an Orthodox Jewish organization, over denial of its application to use a vacant commercial property for a religious facility.

Executive summary

The Justice Department announced an agreement with the Village of Atlantic Beach, New York, to resolve allegations that its zoning code violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The settlement addresses a Village ordinance that required religious…

Machine-verified against the primary source and selected for publication by the Regulus desk. Not individually read by an editor. Lead briefings and anything our checks flag always are — how we review.