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Church denied site; new law used in suit

  • October 5, 2000
  • Religion News Service
  • Churches, Law/Legal/Politics/Voting, United States

Church denied site; new law used in suit

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has filed a lawsuit under a new federal law dealing with religious land use.

The case, believed to be among the first filed under the new law, involves a church denied the use of a storefront location in Grand Haven, Mich. The Washington-based Becket Fund sued the city on behalf of Haven Shores Community Church in March but amended its complaint in light of the new Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

President Clinton signed the bill Sept. 22 and the public-interest law firm amended its complaint Sept. 26.

The suit now argues that the city has deprived the church “of its right to be free from discrimination, as secured by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, by treating it on less than equal terms as a nonreligious assembly or institution, by imposing and implementing a land use regulation that discriminates against it on the basis of religion.”

The suit also cites the new law in saying the city is “imposing and implementing a land use regulation that imposes a substantial burden on (the church’s) religious exercise.”

In response to the original suit, the city council issued a resolution defending its denial of the church’s request.

The council said churches are permitted in nine other zoning districts, but not in the business district where the church wished to hold services.

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