(First Baptist Church of Clarendon) is building a new church sanctuary and child-development center with eight floors of apartments on top, most of them subsidized for low- and moderate-income renters.
A U.S. District Court judge threw out a First Amendment challenge to an affordable housing project above a church in Arlington County on Monday, ruling that it does not violate the constitutional separation of church and state.
Judge Claude M. Hilton said Peter Glassman failed to prove that the county, by partnering with First Baptist Church of Clarendon to build apartments and enable the church to renovate, is advancing religion or enriching the church, as Glassman alleged.
“The actions of the county board . . . had a secular purpose of providing affordable housing to the citizens of Arlington County,” the judge wrote in a 24-page opinion granting the county’s motion to dismiss the case.
Glassman, a financial adviser who lives a block from the church, said Monday night that he plans to appeal the ruling to the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. “We are confident that once the dealings between the county and the church see the light of day, the entanglement and preference will be apparent.”
But county officials, church leaders and housing advocates said they hope Arlington can be a model for local governments that want to build affordable housing by joining forces with houses of worship.
“People with moderate incomes should have a right to live a block from the Metro,” said Arlington County Board member Barbara A. Favola (D), who was chairman when the project was approved. “It doesn’t happen without government intervention.”
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