'His neighbors could have 100 people over every week to watch Lord of the Rings, and there would be no violation'
A California city that had banned home Bible studies, and threatened one resident with zoning violation prosecutions, has decided to back down.
Officials there also say they are reworking their present city ban on renting any public facility for “any” religious event.
The news about the developments in the City of Manhattan Beach, California, comes from the American Center for Law and Justice, which has worked on the situation there.
The legal team announced this week that the city “has reversed course and provided assurances that it will not interfere with residents’ in-home gatherings and Bible studies simply because they are religious.”
The ACLJ joined the dispute after a resident was issued a notice of an alleged zoning violation for holding a gathering in his home for a religious meeting on a Sunday.
“In early 2024, our client (a resident of the City of Manhattan Beach) began gathering in the privacy of his own home with fellow Christians to watch church on TV and fellowship together. In April 2024, our client received a notice from the City of Manhattan Code Enforcement notifying him of an alleged zoning violation: establishing a new religious assembly use without a permit,” the ACLJ explained.
The resident requested a meeting with city officials, which didn’t go well, as they insisted that holding a gathering in his home “for any religious purpose or activity without a permit” was banned.
At that same meeting, though, officials admitted “his neighbors could have ‘100 people over every week to watch Lord of the Rings,’ and there would be no zoning violation.”
The resident then told city officials via email that his understanding was “that any amount of people in my house, assuming no noise or no valet parking, that is meeting to discuss religion or even to watch a religious service on the television is in violation of city code. However, if I were to have a party with any amount of people, then I am not in violation of city code.”
The city declined to respond.
So the ACLJ entered the fray, and informed the city “it cannot regulate any and all religious gatherings in residential homes and that any effort to do so in a manner different than non-religious gatherings constitutes discrimination and violates federal law.”
Eventually the city admitted that “typically sized home gatherings, whether for a bible study, Seder or other religious purposes, or for non-religious purposes are permitted in the ‘RS’ Residential Single-Family zone…”
The resident, fearful of city attacks should he hold religious events, had tried to find another location, and discovered, the ACLJ reported, the city “banned him from renting any public space from the city to hold such a religious service.”
That dispute continues, as the city has promised it is “amending” its discriminatory practice.
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