Seems that these judges have a large roster of cases going on at any time and since each case has scheduled hearing way ahead of time while the paperwork is shuffled back and forth to the clerk for the judge to consider and add new hearings to, calendar time can conflict with other cases and vacation times. Hence, changing judges is common in that arena from what I saw.
In 2007, Scientology claimed to have 10 million followers around the world with 3.5 million here in the U.S. However, according to a major national religious survey, the group had just 25,000 American members in 2008 down from 55,000 in 2001. If that figure is accurate, it means the group had purchased at least 484 square feet of real estate for each believer as of 2010.
They did deserve to be shot down, however, just because of the way they've let the building deteriorate over the years. It's in absolutely terrible shape now, with squirrels running in and out of the roof, lol.http://forum.reachingforthetippingpoint.net/index.php/topic,6449.msg17808.html#msg17808
BTW, the church deserved to be shot down. They went and bought $ 5 million dollar building without doing advance evaluation of their needs. Tough luck, lol!
ORDER DENYING Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment; DENYING Defendants' Motion to Strike portions of the Deposition of Nancy Leathers and portions of the Affidavit of Deborah Danos; and GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART Defendants' 43 Motion for Summary Judgment. Defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED as to Counts II, III, Count IX, and Counts XI-XIII; the motion is DENIED as to Counts I and Counts V-VIII. The Parties are DIRECTED to submit briefing, not to exceed 15 pages, on whether Plaintiff's claims are ripe no later than 10/21/2011. Signed by Judge Amy Totenberg on 9/30/2011. (acm) (Entered: 10/03/2011)
From: Collins, William "Chip" To: Collins, William "Chip" Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 5:28 PMSubject: USDC ruling on Church of Scientology v. City of Sandy Springs lawsuitFriends:For those of you who follow zoning issues in our city, you might be interested in a recent ruling in the Scientology case against Sandy Springs arising out of the 2009 zoning application for their property on Roswell Road at Glenridge. Because the litigation is ongoing, I'll limit my comments to the City's official statement on the ruling, copied below:U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg has ruled that the City of Sandy Springs properly administered its Parking Ordinance in considering a zoning application filed by the Church of Scientology. In the ruling filed September 30, 2011, Judge Totenberg noted that the City of Sandy Springs acted in an objective manner in enforcing its Parking Ordinance.“We are pleased that the Judge recognized that the City’s staff acted in accordance to City ordinance procedures and chose to dismiss that claim against the City,” said Sandy Springs City Attorney Wendell K. Willard.The Church of Scientology filed an application to convert a 32,053 square foot office building into an estimated 44,000 square foot Church. The City approved the use of the property for a church, but limited the size of the building to the existing space based on a lack of sufficient on-site parking. The Church of Scientology filed the federal lawsuit in January claiming that the City discriminated against the religious organization. Judge Totenberg held over for trial the Church’s assertion that the City violated the Church’s free exercise rights on the basis that she could not, on summary judgment, make a fact determination as to the validity of the Church’s position that it needed the full 44,000 square feet to adequately meet its religious obligations.Chip CollinsSandy Springs City Council, District 3
From day one the city of Sandy Springs presented itself in a proper fashion in regard to its well established parking ordinances. This is actually very big news! The judge in this case weighed the merits of the cities parking ordinances and ruled accordingly. Per this ruling I would imagine any further RLUIPA discussion from a legal perspective is moot.
Author
Topic: RLUIPA Law Suit Filed by Church of Scientology of Georgia (Read 101418 times)