RANCHO BERNARDO - A church has filed a lawsuit that challenges the San Diego Planning Commission's recent decision to permit the church to move into Rancho Bernardo's industrial park for five years rather than the 10 sought by the church.

The Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence filed the suit on behalf of Grace Church on Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court.

The city, its planning commission and the Rancho Bernardo Community Planning Board are named as defendants in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, attorneys' fees and an extension of the permit to 10 years.

The suit alleges that the commission's ruling violates federal laws designed to protect churches' right to open in all types of communities.

Institute attorney John Eastman reiterated that position Thursday and cited the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.

"You can't have individualized determinations -- zoning ordinances or whatever -- that create a burden on the free exercise of religion," he said, adding that Grace Church views the five-year restriction on its permit as just that.

A spokesman for the city's planning department referred questions about the lawsuit to City Attorney Mike Aguirre's office. Its spokeswoman, Maria Velasquez, said the office had yet to receive a copy of the suit and would withhold comment until attorneys there had a chance to review the lawsuit.

Grace Church's quest for permission to move into part of a vacant building at 10970 Via Frontera in the industrial park began nearly a year ago.

Tucked in the hills west of Interstate 15 between Rancho Bernardo Road and Camino del Norte in this upscale community of about 45,000, the business park is home to Hewlett-Packard, Sony Electronics, Northrop Grumman and other corporations of varying sizes.

Grace Church was established in 1996 and has been holding its services in Rancho Bernardo High School's performing arts center.

Church leaders have said the 400-member congregation has outgrown the high school site. Grace Church signed a 10-year lease for the Via Frontera site in July after a years-long search allegedly failed to turn up any other alternatives in Rancho Bernardo, church officials have said.

The Rancho Bernardo Community Planning Board, which advises the city on land-use matters in Rancho Bernardo, first considered Grace Church's permit request a couple of months later. The volunteer panel recommended that the city deny the request because it conflicts with a Rancho Bernardo community plan that requires the industrial park to be reserved for businesses.

Planning board members have said they had nothing against churches, but believe they are obligated to uphold the community plan.

A city hearing officer nonetheless granted the church a seven-year permit in September. The planning board appealed the decision to the planning commission, which then trimmed two years off the permit's time period.

That ruling came despite a warning from San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre's office that denial of Grace Church's permit request might violate federal law.

Church leaders' arguments in public hearings that led up to the December decision have included the observation that other places of worship and a fitness center have been allowed to open in the industrial park. They also noted that the Via Frontera building has been vacant for seven years.

Opponents countered that Rancho Bernardo has plenty of other places the church could move to and said they fear the proposed relocation would help erode the park's business orientation, thus depriving the community of a major revenue and employment base.

On Thursday, Eastman said Rancho Bernardo has seven parcels zoned for institutional use, six of which are already occupied. The seventh is unavailable, he said.

Describing the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence as a public-interest law firm that has brought about 40 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the attorney also said Grace Church signed its 10-year lease in the false belief that the permits granted for other churches in the industrial park meant Grace Church would encounter no problems.

As at least one planning official has noted, Eastman added, that the congregation will have a hard time making the proposed move work financially if the church is limited to a five-year time period.

"They're kind of boxed into a corner," he said. "And that's part of what makes this such a burden on the church."

Denton said he was caught off-guard by both the lawsuit and the planning board's inclusion as a defendant.

"It's kind of surprising that they would sue us, because we have no authority to do anything other than to recommend," he said.

- Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.

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