Three churches sue Port St. Lucie, claim zoning laws discriminate

Southport Plaza has a pizza place and also a place to pray, three of them in fact: Unity of Port St. Lucie, Gardens Baptist Church, and First Born Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic.

The churches, all with small congregations, have gathered together for a big fight. They claim the city's zoning laws unfairly discriminate against religious organizations. So they are taking the city of Port St. Lucie to court.

"The law is very clear that when you allow similar uses that include assembly of people, you have to allow churches," said the attorney for the churches Kevin Theriot. He is with the Christian nonprofit Alliance Defense Fund based in Kansas City.

Theriot said the city claims the churches have to leave because they're not allowed in areas zoned "neighborhood convenience commercial." He argues that other types of assemblies like a day care center or a lodge can set up there. Theriot says the churches only came under additional scrutiny after complaints from a few neighbors.

"That they didn't like the shopping center to begin with and they would prefer it to be empty than to have churches there because they would like the shopping center to go away," he said.

Theriot says in the meantime, the churches are allowed to stay open as the lawsuit makes its way through the court system. He hopes to get a ruling on whether the churches are being singled out for discrimination sometime next year.

One of the pastors said that they're just looking for a place to assemble. A spokesman for the city of Port St. Lucie says the city doesn't comment on pending litigation.