PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-2392

ALIVE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE, INC.,

Plaintiff – Appellant,

v.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA,

Defendant – Appellee.

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THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS; THE JEWISH COALITION FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY,

Amici Supporting Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema, District Judge. (1:21-cv-00891-LMB-JFA)

Argued: October 26, 2022 Decided: January 31, 2023

Before KING and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and Sherri A. LYDON, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge King wrote the opinion, in which Judge Heytens and Judge Lydon joined. USCA4 Appeal: 21-2392 Doc: 38 Filed: 01/31/2023 Pg: 2 of 34

ARGUED: Benjamin Paul Sisney, THE AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW & JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Alan Frederic Smith, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Prince William, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Erik W. Stanley, PROVIDENT LAW, Scottsdale, Arizona; Jordan Sekulow, Stuart J. Roth, Colby M. May, THE AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW & JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Curt G. Spear, Jr., Deputy County Attorney, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Prince William, Virginia, for Appellee. Christopher Pagliarella, YALE LAW SCHOOL FREE EXERCISE CLINIC, Washington, D.C.; Gordon D. Todd, John L. Gibbons, William Thompson, III, SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae.

2 USCA4 Appeal: 21-2392 Doc: 38 Filed: 01/31/2023 Pg: 3 of 34

KING, Circuit Judge:

In November 2018, plaintiff Alive Church of the Nazarene, Inc. (the “Church”),

purchased 17 acres of land — zoned primarily for agricultural use — on which the

Church sought to conduct religious assemblies. After defendant Prince William County,

Virginia (the “County”) denied the Church’s request to worship on its property before the

Church complied with the zoning requirements, the Church initiated this lawsuit in

August 2021 in the Eastern District of Virginia. See Alive Church of the Nazarene, Inc.

v. Prince William Cnty., No. 1:21-cv-00891 (E.D. Va. Aug. 3, 2021), ECF No. 1 (the

“Complaint”).

By its Complaint, the Church has alleged six claims against the County — three

claims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), and

three federal constitutional claims. For reasons explained in its Memorandum Opinion of

November 2021, the district court dismissed those claims pursuant to Federal Rule of

Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

See Alive Church of the Nazarene, Inc. v. Prince William Cnty., No. 1:21-cv-00891 (E.D.

Va. Nov. 10, 2021), ECF No. 25 (the “Dismissal Opinion”). In resolving this appeal by

the Church, as explained below, we are satisfied to affirm the district court.

I.

A.

Because this appeal centers on certain zoning laws, both state and local, we begin

with a review of those provisions. First of all, Virginia allows localities to “regulate,

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