A Virginia county has repealed an ordinance preventing a Muslim nonprofit from building a cemetery following a lawsuit from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The department said in a statement Thursday that it is dismissing the lawsuit against Stafford County after it repealed an ordinance that prevented the All Muslim Association of America (AMAA) from developing a cemetery for persons of Islamic faith.
The county further approved the organization’s site plans for the cemetery and has agreed to pay $500,000 in damages.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in June 2020, arguing that the county’s action violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which protects religious institutions from unjustly burdensome or discriminatory land use regulations.
The AMAA, which owns the only all-Islamic cemetery in Virginia, bought an additional 25 acres in 2015 because the original cemetery was reaching capacity.
The DOJ alleged that the nonprofit met the necessary requirements under state law. Then, Stafford County made it harder for the group by passing an ordinance changing the distance a cemetery has to be from a "terminal reservoir or any perennial stream that drains into a terminal reservoir" from 100 feet to 900 feet.
The county then passed an ordinance which the DOJ alleged made establishing the cemetery more expensive and time consuming.
The second ordinance was repealed in October 2020 and replaced with one that allows for the cemetery to be established without the approval of the county, the DOJ said.
The county approved the site plan in July, and last month entered the $500,000 settlement, according to the Justice Department’s notice of dismissal filed Thursday.
“The County, its Board of Supervisors and AMAA are pleased to resolve this matter without further litigation,” AMAA said in a statement on its website.
“The County has approved AMAA’s application to establish a cemetery on its property at 1508 Garrisonville Road. This matter has been resolved in the spirit of compromise and good will,” the nonprofit said.
The Hill has reached out to Stafford County for comment.
