Local Zoning Vs. Freedom of Religion

"A federal jury ruled Friday that Alameda County did not discriminate on religious grounds when it rejected a Christian school's effort to build a campus on rural land near Castro Valley."

"Redwood Christian Schools, which runs a combined junior and senior high school in a rented building in San Lorenzo, sued the county under a 2000 federal law limiting state and local governments' authority to regulate land use in a way that interferes with freedom of religion. Religious groups around the nation have used the law to file challenges to local zoning and permit decisions, and this case was one of the first to go to trial."

"The county denied a permit in 2001 to the interdenominational school, which wanted to build classrooms for 650 junior and senior high students on 56 acres it owns in Palomares Canyon, an unincorporated area near an Interstate 580 off-ramp."

"In its lawsuit, Redwood Christian said the denial interfered with its "religious education ministry'' and had cost the school more than $30 million in financing, construction delays and lost tuition."

"The county said its rejection was not motivated by religion but by the need to keep the land for agricultural use and open space."

"The school will appeal, said attorney Derek Gaubatz of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a law firm in Washington, D.C., that represented Redwood Christian."