When considering a new location for a church, it is essential to consider municipal zoning and planning restrictions that are likely to exist for a particular site. Zoning regulations typically dictate what can be built in any given location, or to what uses it can be put ‘by right’. The first thing to consider in evaluating a prospective site is what are the “permitted uses.” Churches tend to be zoned as ‘permitted uses’ in residential areas or institutional areas. Some municipalities adopt specific “religious zones,” which severely restrict where churches can be placed. This does not mean that if a church is considering a property where churches are not permitted ‘by right’ that they should abandon the site. At times church uses are also permitted as a “special exception” or a “conditional” use in the ordinance. This means that you have to apply to either the Zoning Hearing Board or the Township’s governing body to get approval to use the site for a church. At other times, the whole of the zoning ordinance should be studied to see if the municipality is unfairly discriminating against churches. We have come across some jurisdictions where a church is not permitted ‘by right’ in any zoning district. Situations such as these, or even where churches are permitted only as a “conditional use’ or ’special exception’ can fall clearly within the scope of a sweeping Federal Law called the “Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000“. Although this Federal Law may be a tool that you can successfully use to get the approval to use a site, it may be well to exhaust other options first, since it may result in a lengthy battle and drain resources from the church in the process.
The next issue to be considered – assuming the zoning classification permits a church – would be the limits imposed on the size of the building and the amount of paving allowed. The size of the building is normally referred to as ‘building coverage’ or ‘footprint’. Most ordinances have a certain percentage of the site that is allowed to be covered by buildings. It is important to make sure that this percentage is high enough for the size of the building that may be constructed over time. Likewise, the parking and paving coverage – known as the ‘impervious surface area’ – will determine how much parking can be constructed on the site over time. In an effort to curtail development, many municipalities have enacted fairly restrictive regulations on the amount of impervious surface that can be created on a site. This may be especially true in areas subject to flooding, as there is legitimate concern about the rapid run-off of water that will occur when a substantial portion of the site is paved. Physically, however, storm water can be adequately dealt with through detention basins and storm water structures that slow down the rate that water runs off the property. Nevertheless, these two factors, ‘building coverage’ and ‘impervious surface ratio’, will tell you how much of the lot you will be allowed to use over time.