The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has rejected a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Catholic organization against Northville Township over a zoning dispute. Judge Paul Borman dismissed the case on grounds of “ripeness,” ruling that the Miles Christi religious order had not exhausted all of their administrative options before filing the suit.

The suit arose out of a dispute between Miles Christi, which is a Vatican-approved Catholic society of monks and priests, and some of its neighbors in Northville Township. The group has a house in a residential neighborhood in the township where a group of monks and priests live and conduct Bible studies and Catholic masses. They have occupied the house since 2002.

In 2003, neighbors began complaining to the township about the number of cars parked regularly at the house. The township asked the group to submit a letter detailing who they are and how they use the home, and after an initial investigation determined that the group had not violated any ordinances or zoning regulations.

The township began to keep a closer eye on the property, however, and the complaints continued. The township later changed its position and ruled that the house was being used as a church and that the group would have to go through the township’s site plan review process because of the more intense use of the property than was intended.

A suit was filed in state court first and that state court ruled in favor of Miles Christi, concluding that the zoning ordinance was “overly vague and subjective.” That ruling was then overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals. The state proceedings were then stayed while the plaintiffs filed suit in federal court instead.

The federal court has now dismissed the case, concluding that because Miles Christi had failed to go through the normal procedures with the township — filing a site plan review or applying for a zoning variance — the case was not yet ripe for the court to decide:

Plaintiffs could have avoided the civil infraction ticket, and can still forestall the enforcement of the Defendants’ initial determination of more intense use which requires an examination of the land use, by appealing to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which stays enforcement. Appealing the initial determination of the official will either resolve the case in favor of Plaintiffs or will further develop the factual record and refine Plaintiffs’ constitutional claims. Either way, Plaintiffs must fully avail themselves of the zoning board of appeals process, or otherwise show that a final determination has been made, before pursuing their claims in federal court.

If the township refuses to grant a variance, the suit can then be refiled. Federal law under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) requires that religious organizations be given exemptions from zoning regulations that constitute a “substantial burden” on their free exercise of religion, unless the government can show a compelling state interest in enforcing the law in that particular situation.