Maui church can join
Justice Department’s lawsuit
A Maui church's trial was delayed for an additional nine months by a federal judge who has allowed the church to consolidate its lawsuit against Maui County with a similar suit by the U.S. Justice Department.
U.S. Magistrate Kevin Chang granted Monday that the motion from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C., law firm that represents Hale O Kaula in its suit claiming that county planners violated the U.S. Constitution by denying the church a permit to build a chapel on its rural land.
Chang set the trial for Nov. 16 to allow the Justice Department time to prepare. The government agency filed its suit in July, two years after the Hale O Kaula church filed suit.
Chang said: "Separate trials would result in unnecessary time, cost and expense to the parties and the court." He said Maui County "should also realize some efficiency and cost savings from having a single trial."
The county had opposed the consolidation and urged that the scheduled Feb. 18 trial in U.S. District Court go on as scheduled. "We had hoped the case would go to trial in February. It's already been postponed several times," said Maui Deputy Corporation Counsel Madelyn D'Enbeau.
"It is not in the best interest of the county or of the church to drag it out further," she said.
The county hopes to get before a higher court earlier this year with its challenge of a relatively new federal law that gives religious organizations a fast track through municipal zoning procedures.
Both the Becket Fund and the U.S. Justice Department have cited the 2000 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. In a decision last month, U.S. District Judge Samuel P. King upheld the constitutionality of the act that requires municipalities to show a compelling interest, such as public safety, to deny a religious group's zoning request.
D'Enbeau said the county will appeal the ruling and ask the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on the constitutionality. Because the case hasn't proceeded through trial, King must give permission for the appeal.
The county will file a motion asking permission to file the appeal, the county attorney said.
Hale O Kaula sued, claiming discrimination after the Maui Planning Commission denied a special use permit required to build a church on its Pukalani land. The commission backed neighbors' concerns that there is no water line to the area and traffic concerns on the private road the church shares with residents.
Last summer, the congregation began holding worship services on the Pukalani site.