The Anne Arundel County Council on Monday rejected a settlement that would have allowed a Christian church to build a private academy in an environmentally-sensitive rural area.
The legislation would have allowed Riverdale Baptist Church to build a new 100,000-square-foot facility for its Arundel Bay Christian Academy in Bristol, an area of large farms and the nearby Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary.
Riverdale Baptist is suing the county in federal court for religious discrimination after zoning changes were implemented several years ago halted the school’s development.
The legislation would have granted the church an exemption, but the council unanimously rejected it despite county attorney Jonathan Hodgson’s pleas to accept the settlement to avoid a costly court trial.
A church successfully sued Prince George’s County in a similar situation, and won millions of dollars in a jury trial.
Council Chairman Ed Reilly, R-Crofton, who supported the settlement last month, voted against it Monday saying the county was acting in the best interests of the environment, not in a discriminatory way against Riverdale Baptist.
Some in the audience of the council meeting cheered and applauded after the council voted down the settlement. Bristol residents opposed the development for fear of excess traffic on the community’s narrow country roads.
