Does RLUIPA make it illegal to prohibit churches from a particular zone?
No. An argument often made by those supporting religious institutions is that RLUIPA makes it illegal to prohibit religious institutions within a zone. This is not accurate and such a broad application of RLUIPA was never intended by the original drafters of the law[6] and has been rejected by the courts on numerous occasions. The court in Petra Presbyterian Church v. Village of Northbrook (2007)[7] said it best: The ban on churches in … a … zone cannot in itself constitute a substantial burden on religion, because then every zoning ordinance that didn’t permit churches everywhere would be a prima facie violation of RLUIPA.
