The church filed a lawsuit in 2006 accusing county officials of religious discrimination. After the church purchased property, the county at first denied grading and building permits before changing zoning laws to prohibit the school.

A Maryland county will pay a Baptist church $3.25 million and allow construction of a Christian school that government officials have opposed for eight years under terms of a settlement reached Nov. 18 in federal court.

An attorney representing Riverdale Baptist Church in Upper Marlboro, Md., said the award is one of the largest and the case is perhaps only the third to go to trial under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.

The settlement, reached on the 12th day of a lengthy jury trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, clears the way for the church to build an expanded Arundel Bay Christian Academy on 57 acres of property it owns in Anne Arundel County.

The school, a ministry of Riverdale Baptist Ministry Church and Schools in neighboring Prince George’s County, currently enrolls 140 students but has wanted to expand for several years.

In 2006 the county designated 23 roads — including two that border the church’s property — “scenic and historic” and severely limited building on such roads…

Under terms of the settlement, however, the county admits that it violated a federal statute that prohibits creation of local zoning laws that impose a “substantial burden” on religious freedoms without a compelling cause.

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