Pastor Gary Mortara said he will sit down with city officials soon to discuss a new location for his Faith Fellowship megachurch now that a five-year old lawsuit with the city has been settled.
On Monday city officials said they would pay the church $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2007 after Mortara tried to move his fast-growing congregation from Washington Manor to an industrial area.
The city refused to allow the move saying it conflicted with zoning that set the land aside for manufacturing uses.
The settlement ends a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and tested the power of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.
RLUIPA (pronounced ree-loopa) gave churches the benefit of the doubt in zoning disputes with local authorities.
The church-city feud had drawn national attention.
Last year the Wall Street Journal said San Leandro could be on the hook for $4 million in damages and attorney's fees. Other estimates put the city's potential liability as high as $20 million.
On Tuesday Mortara pronounced the $2.3 million settlement fair.
"It was a reasonable enough offer for us to accept it and put this silliness to an end," he said.
At the same time he felt the church's position had been vindicated.
"We didn't have to come to the table with a checkbook in our hand, they came with a checkbook in their hand because they were wrong," he said.
Now that the case is settled, Mortara still faces the task of finding a new location for the church, which now has 2,000 members.
He said the church has a couple of locations in mind that conform with the city's zoning code. Its leaders would start meeting with city officials soon to start reviewing the possibilities, he said.
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Who are the officials who should apologize? The present and former MAYORS. The present and former CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, the ZONING officials and permit grantors. Take names and petition them to do right or they should be removed.
I am a trial attorney. I have assisted people in suing to recover monetary damages for nearly 20 years. When a potential client enters my office the first thing I attempt to determine my client's goal. If the goal is a monetary recovery, I may be able to help. If the goal is vindication, or spite, or retribution, I can't help and won't take the case. The courts don't serve that purpose. It would be sad if that (vindication, spite or punishment) is what Pastor Mortara and the church used the court for. And to Marga, I acknowledge that the church initially sued for declaratory and injunctive relief. At some point (when the church sold the building) that relief became unavailable. At that point the church made a decision to proceed with the lawsuit to seek damages. That was certainly the church's right, and I would not blame them for exercising that right, unless they really didn't want the money, and just wanted vindication and to inflict punishment.
This does not excuse the city and their POOR handling of the situation..... and city goverment should have realized that the new law had a hole in it big enought to drive a semi through and FAVORED the church......... (hello expensive lawyers...... was anyone paying attention) WHO really cares if the case was heard in the California Supreme Court or the US Supreme Court...... what are we all still in Kindergarten??????? He did She did..... I did better than you did......... COME ON........THIS TOTALLY BITES.......it takes TWO to tango....... culpability lies with BOTH it was and is a mess that COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED... Period...... BOTTOM LINE........ it is the Citizens of San Leandro that get hosed in this situation! Quite frankly NOBODY asked me how I felt about about my hard earned tax paying dollars being WASHED DOWN THE DRAIN!!!!! When EVERYONE (Church and City) started this whole mess.
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
Brilliant response!!!! If you didn't want money...why sue? This guy wanted money. Then he gloats in the face of everyone. Wonder if Jesus told him to do that?