City will pay damages to settle zoning dispute

CHICAGO — The city of Evanston, Ill., will pay $350,000 in damages to settle a long-running zoning dispute with one of the community’s largest churches. Since 1997, the 700-member Evanston Vineyard Church has sought zoning approval to hold worship services in a former office building it owns. But Evanston’s city code, while allowing membership organizations and cultural events, specifically prohibits “houses of worship” such as churches from the office zone the building is located in.

The church sued the city, claiming that the zoning code violated its constitutional rights to free assembly, free speech and equal protection. In March, a federal judge ruled in the church’s favor. In the ruling, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer noted that Vineyard’s congregants could legally stage a production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” which includes a traditional Jewish wedding, but “could not host an actual religious wedding.”