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Saturday, August 13, 2005

Ind. Law - Local zoning issues may become a federal case

Yesterday's South Bend Tribune had an interesting story by Jeff Parrott, headlined: "Legal fight looms in 'Worker' zoning flap: Catholic home will cite a new religious law if rejected by council." The story begins:

SOUTH BEND -- It was looking increasingly likely Thursday that the city will end up in court over its intent to stop a group from operating three homeless shelters in a near west side neighborhood.

City attorney Chuck Leone said the city is not afraid to enforce its residential zoning laws against Catholic Worker of Michiana, which claims its shelters in the 1100 block of West Washington Street should be exempted by a federal law protecting the expression of religious beliefs.

The block is zoned for single-family residential, meaning no more than two unrelated people can legally live in a dwelling. The city has notified Catholic Worker that it is violating the zoning code and asked it to move to another location. The group has refused.

"We're taking the position that zoning laws dealing with public health and safety issues are applicable to everyone in the city and it's our obligation to enforce those," city attorney Chuck Leone said.

Catholic Worker, in turn, is prepared to file a lawsuit against the city invoking the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act [RLUIPA] of 2000, which bars a government from implementing a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a "substantial burden" on one's "religious exercise" -- unless government can prove a compelling interest in doing so, said Kent Hull, the group's attorney and recently appointed board member.

For more on the RLUIPA, see this ILB entry from 7/7/04 (2nd item) about a similar case in Louisville. And see this 2/23/05 ILB entry titled "In landmarking, Daley believes nothing's sacred," which includes in the last paragraph links to a number of valuable ILB entries from 2003 on the RLUIPA.

[Update 8/14/05] See this excellent column today by the South Bend Tribune's Nancy J. Sulok. It begins:

I don't blame the West Washington/Colfax Historic District residents for becoming emotional about zoning violations in their neighborhood. It's a neighborhood that remains in transition.

A roughly one-mile stretch of Washington Street, from downtown to Walnut Street, has seen its up and downs. It once was the home of South Bend's wealthiest citizen-pioneers, including the Studebakers and the Olivers. Their magnificent mansions remain, although they no longer are used as homes.

In the middle of the 20th century, the area began to change to one of the worst parts of the city. The area around Washington and Walnut streets became known as The Block. It was notorious for gambling, boozing, fights and assorted crimes, including homicides.

By the end of the century, the pendulum swung again. The Block was demolished, and people took an interest in restoring the area to its former splendor. Washington Street, Colfax Avenue and their intersecting streets are filled with lovely old houses, many of which have been restored to their former beauty.

At the same time, the South Bend Heritage Foundation and other developers have invested in new housing to complement the old. Residents have put in a lot of effort to maintain and sustain the single-family zoning aimed at stabilizing the neighborhood.

That is why they are so distressed by the three houses in the 1100 block of West Washington that are being used by the Catholic Worker of Michiana. Those houses, plus a fourth facility housed in a former rectory at 1102 Thomas St., threaten to undermine everything they have been working for.

The issue is zoning.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 13, 2005 12:10 PM
Posted to Indiana Law