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City Planning Commission Members City of Pleasanton, CA. April 16, 2018 Page 4 In their joint statement to the Senate about RLUIPA, co-sponsors Senators Orrin Hatch and Edward Kennedy observed: The right to assemble for worship is at the very core of the free exercise of religion. Churches and synagogues cannot function without a physical space adequate to their needs and consistent with their theological requirements. The right to build, buy, or rent such a space is an indispensable adjunct of the core First Amendment right to assemble for religious purposes. 146 Cong. Rec. S7774 (July 27, 2000). Concerned that "[c]hurches in general and new, small, or unfamiliar churches in particular, are frequently discriminated against ...in the highly individualized and discretionary processes of land use regulation," the Senators described how some"[zoning] codes permit churches only with individualized permission from the zoning board, and zoning boards use that authority in discriminatory ways." Id. The Senators further noted "discrimination lurks behind such vague and universally applicable reasons as traffic, aesthetics, or 'not consistent with the city's land use plan."Id. Under RLUIPA's Substantial Burden clause, No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution, unless the government demonstrates that imposition of the burden on that person, assembly, or institution— (A) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (B) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest. 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc(a)(1). Congress broadly defined "religious exercise"to include "any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief," and specified the "use, building, or conversion of real property for the purpose of religious exercise shall be considered to be religious exercise of the person or entity that uses or intends to use the property for that purpose."42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-5(7). Congress further clarified RLUIPA is to be "construed in favor of a broad protection of religious exercise, to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of this chapter and the Constitution." 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-3(g). The religious use must first show the City has implemented a land use regulation that imposes a substantial burden its religious exercise; the burden then shifts to the City to show the burden furthers a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-2(b).