UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — A U.S. District Court judge has ruled in favor of the city of University Heights and Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan in a case brought by resident Daniel Grand based on Grand’s desire to hold Sabbath prayer sessions in his home.
On Tuesday (Oct. 1) Judge Bridget Meehan Brennan of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, ruled to dispose, without prejudice, all claims against the city, with a single exception, upon which the court declined jurisdiction.
Mayor Brennan issued a brief statement Tuesday which read: “We have read the opinion. We agree with it. We are grateful for the Court’s decision.”
Grand filed the suit in September, 2022, after the city, in early 2021, informed him that he would need to apply for and be granted by the city’s Planning Commission and City Council a special use permit (SUP) in order to hold the prayer sessions.
Grand, an Orthodox Jew required to pray three times per day, built a 700-square-foot recreation room addition to his Miramar Boulevard home that was to host the sessions. In addition to a group of about 10 men with whom he planned to pray regularly, Grand put out an invitation for neighbors to come to his home and join in.
A resident passed along the invitation to then-law director Luke McConville, who then issued a cease-and-desist letter to Grand, prior to that neighborhood session being held, informing him that his house is located in a single-family home district, and that, “The use or operation of the premises as a religious place of assembly and/or in operation of a shul or synagogue is not permitted under the city’s ordinances.”
Grand applied for the SUP in January, 2021, and the Planning Commission met for three hours to discuss the matter on March 4, 2021, without coming to a decision. A second Planning Commission meeting was then scheduled for March 23, but before that meeting could be held, Grand withdrew his request for a special use permit.
Eighteen months later Grand filed his suit, making 20 claims against the city, Brennan, the Planning Commission’s Paul Siemborski and McConville. Those claims included violations of his First Amendment free speech rights; Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights; his right to freely worship; and violations of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA.
Between the submission of the SUP request and its withdrawal, Grand told of events that occurred, including a neighbor setting up multiple cameras that pointed directly at and into Grand’s home.
Grand filed two police reports about the cameras, then hung a landscaping mesh sheet to block the cameras from peering into his house, but he was instructed by the city to remove the sheet.
Later, upon advise from the city prosecutor, the city asked for, and was permitted by Grand’s wife, to do an interior inspection of his home.
The lawsuit also noted that University Heights police made frequent passes of his house in order to ensure that Grand would not act in violation of the city’s zoning code by holding prayer sessions.
Some of the counts brought by Grand were against all of the defendants, some only against the city of University Heights, some against the city and Brennan, others against only Brennan, and some against Brennan and McConville.
In his suit, Grand sought a permanent injunction permitting him to pray in his home with others without obtaining a SUP; a declaration that the city’s conduct was unlawful; an order enjoining the city from treating Grand differently than other residents; an order enjoining the city from revoking permits previously provided to him; a declaration that the city discriminated against Grand for his religious beliefs; an order that the city’s discriminatory actions are void; and a declaration that Grand is entitled to a certificate of occupancy for his home.
Also, a writ of mandamus compelling the city to issue a certificate of occupancy; a writ of mandamus compelling the city to comply with the Ohio Public Records Act; an award of statutory fees, court costs, and attorneys’ fees relating to the Ohio Public Records Act; damages relating to FACE Act violations; a declaration that the city’s land-use ordinances are unconstitutional because they violate the First Amendment, RLUIPA, and the Ohio Constitution; a permanent injunction barring the city from enforcing the ordinances; and an award of compensatory damages.
Grand has 30 days to appeal the ruling. Comment was sought from attorney Jonathan Gross, who did not reply.
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