ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A tiny church in St. Louis is suing city planners over a zoning law that forbids it from meeting in a storefront. The case may result in a court test of a new federal law that forbids anti-religious discrimination in zoning.
Paul Hamilton, pastor of the “Hole in the Roof” ministry, said he and his wife want to minister to Bosnian refugees in his neighborhood. “God has placed us to minister to these people,” Hamilton said. “And we’re basically being told, ‘We don’t want you here.’”
Hamilton is paying rent for a storefront, but is forbidden to occupy it because town leaders say the area’s zoning limits uses to “viable businesses.” The policy would let Hamilton use the storefront for a bar, but not for a church.
Under the city’s zoning law, storefront churches are lumped in with other undesirable businesses, including pornographic theaters, pawn shops, massage parlors and health spas.
The city’s zoning policy will be challenged under the new Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, recently signed into law by President Clinton.
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