Case Offers Twist On Religious Land Use Law

 When a Catholic church in Norwich announced plans to continue using a former school building for its food pantry and soup kitchen, residents responded with concerns about crowds of homeless people and crime. In what is being called a cruel case of musical chairs in a not-in-my-backyard dispute, the St. Vincent de Paul Place soup kitchen is at the moment without a permanent home. The church claims the City of Norwich Zoning Board of Appeals has bowed to the pressures of neighborhood complaints by denying its request for a zoning variance to remain in the school building where it had moved under a temporary zoning permit. The Diocese of Norwich and the St. Joseph's Polish Roman Catholic Congregation have filed a federal lawsuit, claiming their rights to religious worship are being violated under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. The law with the ungainly acronym RLUIPA gives places of worship ways to challenge local zoning regulations. The twist here — and the point that the City of Norwich will no doubt make in court — is that the building being considered for a soup kitchen is not officially a house of worship. And so the question is, are facilities run by religious groups — like homeless shelters, soup kitchens or even church halls with bowling alleys — considered religious exercises? Courts have been divided on the question when it arises in land use cases, said Sara Bronin, an associate professor who teaches land use law at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Many disputes involving churches that seek to use RLUIPA to gain zoning approval for uses including bowling alleys or restaurants do not make it to court, she said, because they are settled between the parties. St. Vincent's left their previous location on Railroad Street because the building needed structural repairs that could not be completed while they were in the building. Attorneys for the city say they would be pleased if St. Vincent’s would return to the Railroad location, but St. Vincent's has told them they do not want to go back. Additionally, St. Vincent's representatives recently told the Zoning Board of Appeals that the location is no longer acceptable for them. The city also points out, through its lawyers, that efforts to accommodate St. Vincent's were made by giving the soup kitchen a six-month temporary permit to operate at its present location, with the understanding that the operation would return to Railroad Street.

In the federal lawsuit filed earlier this year, the diocese claims it is being denied the same rights that have been granted to other places of worship in the city, such as those that run thrift stores. The church further claims the city's refusal to allow it to operate the soup kitchen in its previous downtown location, or in the school, denies its members the ability to "exercise their religion freely."

A browser or device that allows javascript is required to view this content.

Subscribe to The Connecticut Law Tribune

You must be signed in to comment on an article

Sign In or Subscribe
">

View the original article here