To open a new church, congregations must comply with state and local zoning and land-use laws, and often must seek approval from special boards or public assemblies. All too frequently, writes Emma Green, communities are unwilling to see a new house of worship in their midst. Bigotry—against Jews, or Muslims, or African-Americans—is sometimes the source of the hostility; but in no small number of cases, objecting residents have more mundane concerns:
One New Jersey lawyer recounted a hearing on an Orthodox Jewish group’s zoning application where an objector stood up, turned to the yarmulke-wearing crowd, and said, “Hitler should have killed more of you.” . . . But many land-use disputes aren’t about explicit bigotry. They arise from concerns about noise, lost property taxes, and Sunday-morning traffic jams. The effect is largely the same, and can be just as devastating as outright hatred: a religious community is dragged into a lengthy, and costly, dispute with a city or town. Religious groups either give up and move somewhere else or prepare for litigation—and the burdens that come with it.
Fights over religious liberty tend to run hot. They are ignited by disputes over speech and sexuality, hate crimes, and school vouchers—issues that divide the American public. But the slow burn of bureaucratic tedium has equal power to test the faith of a congregation. Zoning and land-use conflicts consistently rank among the top reasons why religious organizations end up in court, according to the legal newsletter Church and Tax Law. . . .
Towns can have outdated, discriminatory zoning rules on the books and not even realize it. Local officials can be single-mindedly focused on raising revenue from property taxes, which churches and other houses of worship don’t pay.
These fights matter, because physical spaces matter: they can determine who makes the drive to morning services and who stays home; who remains in the fold and who grows disconnected from their faith; and whether people of all races, classes, and backgrounds are truly welcomed in, or whether the church doors are just too far away for some people to reach.
Read more on Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/rluipa/543504/