Facts: Enforcing a preexisting moratorium on new land use permit applications, the respondent city of Woodinville denied Northshore United Church of Christ’s application for a permit to erect an encampment for the homeless on church property. After Northshore United Church of Christ moved forward with its plans to erect the encampment in spite of the city’s decision, the city petitioned the Superior Court for King County for an injunction preventing the church from doing so. The trial court granted the injunction, ruling that the city’s rejection of Northshore United Church of Christ’s application had not violated Northshore United Church of Christ’s right to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I §11 of the Washington State Constitution insofar as the city’s zoning restrictions were narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state interest. Upon appeal, the Washington Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision. Northshore United Church of Christ appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.
Question(s): Did the application of the city’s blanket moratorium on new land use permit applications violate Northshore United Church of Christ’s right to the free exercise of religion?
Conclusion: Justice James M. Johnson’s opinion for the Court reversed the Washington Court of Appeals, concluding that as Article I §11 of the Washington State Constitution confers a broader right to the free exercise of religion than does the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution and as aiding the homeless constituted religiously motivated conduct that was substantially burdened by the city, the city’s application of a blanket moratorium that offered the church no possibility of pursuing its plans in any fashion was unconstitutional insofar as a blanket moratorium was not a sufficiently narrowly tailored means of achieving a compelling state interest.
Docket No. 80588-1 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 58296-8)
Petitioner: Northshore United Church of Christ & Seattle Housing & Res. Effort/Women's Housing Equality & Enhancement Project
Respondent: City of Woodinville
Briefs:
- ACLU Amicus
- Amicus of Church Council of Greater Seattle, Et Al
- Appellant Northshore Church's Opening Brief
- Brief of Appellant Share Wheel
- Northshore Church's Reply to Petition for Review
- Northshore's Petition for Review
- Northshore's Reply in Support of Appeal and Response to Woodinville's Cross Appeal
- Religious Congregations Amici
- Reply of Appellant Share Wheel
- Respondent Cross-appellant City of Woodinville's Reply
- Respondent Cross-appellant Woodinville's Response and Opening Brief
- Woodinville's Answer to ACLU Amicus
- Woodinville's Answer to Petition for Review
- Woodinville's Response to Amicus
- Woodinville's Response to Religious Congregations Amici
Argument: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:00am
[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]
Audio: Washington Supreme Court
Decided: Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Prevailing Party: City of Woodinville (Respondent)
Vote: 9-0
Citation: Pending
Alexander
Johnson
Madsen
Sanders
(Concurs)
Chambers
Owens
Fairhurst
Johnson
(Majority)
Stephens
Note: We post only slip opinion(s) as published at the time of the decision. Please consult Washington Reports printed volumes for the opinion(s) in their final form. Each opinion should appear next to the Justice who authored it.