Denial of Permit Would Violate Legal Protections for Houses of Worship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2025
BARTLETT, Tenn. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter today to the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen urging the board to approve the Bartlett Muslim Society’s permit application to build a proposed mosque. The letter explains that denying the permit would violate both federal and state law.
The Muslim Society first applied for a special-use permit in 2023. After some community members objected to the mosque, with one person claiming that “Muslims do not believe in God,” the city’s planning commission demanded that the society undertake a costly, extensive traffic study. Though the study showed that construction of the mosque would leave traffic patterns virtually unchanged, now and in the future, the planning commission nevertheless recommended that the permit be denied— against the recommendation of the city’s own planning and economic development director. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen are set to make a final decision next week.
“We urge the board to allow the Bartlett Muslim Society to build a mosque in the city. The planning commission’s hollow excuses used to delay the Muslim Society’s application suggest that the real motive here is discrimination based on religion,” said ACLU-TN Legal Director Stella Yarbrough. “Religious exercise is a basic constitutional right that extends to all people of every faith in every town.”
Under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and Tennessee’s Preservation of Religious Freedom Act, government may not substantially burden religious exercise by denying zoning permits unless the denial is necessary to further a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means available. Today’s letter details why the city cannot meet this high legal bar with respect to the Muslim Society’s permit application.
“Denying a zoning permit for a house of worship based on pretextual reasons, such as traffic concerns, is against the law,” said Heather L. Weaver, senior counsel for the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “It also dishonors the fundamental principles of religious freedom that date back to the founding of our country.”
This is the second letter the ACLU and ACLU-TN have sent city officials urging them to issue the permit. The initial letter was sent in December of 2023.
To read the full letter, please visit: https://live-aclu-tennessee.pantheonsite.io/sites/default/files/aclu_letter_to_city_of_bartlett_re_bartlett_muslim_society_2.6.25.pdf
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