March (Web-only) 2003

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Church wins key zoning case
The town of Evanston, Illinois, violated a Vineyard church's rights to free speech, assembly, and equal protection of the laws when it banned the church from using its newly purchased office building for worship services, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

"Vineyard's congregants may permissibly stage … a production of the musical 'Fiddler on the Roof,' which includes a scene depicting a traditional Jewish wedding. Vineyard may not, however, host an actual religious wedding," U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer ruled. "Evanston's claim that it has zoned purely for land use purposes and not on the basis of religion is not supported by the facts."

The city had argued—as many do in fights against churches—that allowing the building to be used for worship would hurt the town financially, with traffic, parking, and the loss of tax revenues. But Pallmeyer said it had no evidence to suggest that.

"The city argues that even tax-exempt cultural organizations are preferable to religious institutions because they tend to draw more people into Evanston who will dine in the city's restaurants and visit the city's shops. Evanston offered no evidence, however, that people attending church services do not eat in city restaurants or shop in Evanston stores. … Nothing in this record suggests that Evanston is better off financially because [the church property] is operated solely as a cultural, rather than a religious, facility."

The ruling is an important one for church zoning, but Pallmeyer avoided the church's claims that the city had violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits cities from putting "a substantial burden" on religion unless they have "a compelling interest." Evanston, ...