Leland Township is facing a new lawsuit that claims it violated the First, Fifth, and 14th amendments to the United States Constitution, the Michigan Constitution and numerous federal civil rights laws and Michigan state law.
On Monday, Apollos Properties, LLC. owners’ James and Elizabeth VanSteenhouse, and Micah and Kya Cramer, filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Michigan asking the court to find Leland Township violated a number of their constitutional and state rights. All Leland Township board members, as well as members of the planning commission and zoning board of appeals (ZBA), were named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Apollos Properties submitted an application for a special land use permit last October to use a portion of the north side of their building, located at 110 N. Lake Street, for a Youth for Christ (YFC) club center. The YFC club center, located in Leland’s commercial district, would have been utilized by the local YFC affiliate group, the Leland LightHouse.
After months of review and deliberation, the township planning commission voted 4-1 in April to deny the application for a special land use permit. Apollos Properties’ then appealed the decision and the matter is now in the hands of the township’s ZBA. Over the last month, the township board has been working to appoint candidates to serve on vacant seats on the board, and a new date for the ZBA to review the YFC appeal has yet to be scheduled.
According to a press release that announced the lawsuit on Tuesday, the federal lawsuit asks the court “to declare that Leland Township’s zoning ordinance is facially unconstitutional and unconstitutional as applied to persons assembling for prayer and Bible study at the private property on North Lake Street.”
“This case is much more than a zoning dispute,” said James VanSteenhouse in the press release. “Leland Township’s denial of the constitutional rights and First Amendment freedoms guaranteed by our National and State Constitutions cannot stand. Leland Township could have allowed Youth for Christ Club to meet at our property on North Lake Street and there would be no drama. We don’t want a lawsuit. All we desire is the opportunity for Leelanau County youth to meet for prayer, Bible study, Christian fellowship, and mentoring on private property.”
The press release noted that “because a majority of the township’s planning commission twice denied Youth for Christ Club the right to meet for prayer and Bible study at the Vansteenhouse family’s property, it became necessary” to file the lawsuit to enforce YFC’s constitutional right to assemble.
The 169 page-long lawsuit also asks the court to order Leland Township to pay the attorney fees and litigation expenses that the plaintiffs have had to incur, and asks for the court to order Leland Township to refund the fees and exactions the township had required the plaintiffs to pay the township.
Part of the complaint in the lawsuit’s summary claims that Leland Township adopted “a land use scheme that imposes a religious gerrymander,” stating that Leland’s zoning ordinance and regulation of churches and religious institutions is not “neutral nor is it generally applicable.”
“Leland Township’s prohibition and regulation of ‘Churches and Religious Institutions’ does not serve any ‘compelling’ or even rational legitimate government interest,” part of the lawsuit’s summary stated. “Leland Township’s Planning Commission issued two rulings concluding that Youth for Christ Club, an assembly of high school students meeting to pray and study the Bible at private property, is not a secular ‘club’ allowed or permitted under the Township’s Zoning Ordinance, but is a ‘Church or Religious Institution’ that is absolutely prohibited from assembling at private property.”
The lengthy lawsuit includes information on the parties involved as well as background on the YFC ministry, its timeline in Leland since the purchase of the N. Lake Street property, and the 13 violations the plaintiffs claim against the township.
Representing the plaintiffs is lead attorney Thor Hearne. The press release on Tuesday noted Hearne is a prominent constitutional attorney with more than 40 years of experience litigating constitutional and civil rights cases in federal court, including arguing cases before the United States Supreme Court. In addition, Hearne was President George W. Bush’s national election counsel and represented President Trump in numerous federal cases. The Traverse City law firm Parker and Harvey with their partners Robert Parker and Todd Miller are noted as co-counsel in the federal case and Robert Parker has represented Apollos in the zoning matters before Leland Township.
