If you find it hard to imagine local governments seizing churches or synagogues to build shopping malls, then consider the current zoning conflicts involving religious institutions around the nation.
Zoning, of course, isn’t “taking” — and attempts by governments to seize church property are still fairly rare. But as Cottonwood Christian Center in Los Alamitos, Calif., discovered in 2000, when local governments want more revenue, churches are fair game. Cottonwood spent several years fighting the city’s attempt to take church land (purchased to build a larger place of worship) and sell it to Costco Corp. for a big store. After much litigation, the case was finally settled last year when the church agreed to build on another piece of property in the same area.
St. Luke’s Pentecostal Church in North Hempstead, N.Y., didn’t fare as well. After years of worshiping in a rented basement, the congregation was finally able to buy a piece of property where it could build a church. Through a series of convoluted actions, the city managed to condemn the property for private retail development. The church battled back in court only to lose its case — and its land — in 2002.
Meanwhile, in East St. Louis, Ill., the Masjid Al-Muhajirm mosque bought land to build a place of worship. Unfortunately for the Muslim community, a group of developers coveted the land for a residential complex. When the mosque wouldn’t sell, the developers persuaded the government’s development authority to condemn the land in 1999. Although the government admitted that the purpose of the condemnation was to transfer private land to another private party, it argued that doing so was a valid “public use” because the land was blighted. The Muslims won in the trial court, but lost on appeal. In 2001, the developers got the land.
If a modest number of religious groups had problems pre-Kelo, many more can expect property takings post-Kelo. Although the First Amendment, federal law and public opinion still help shield houses of worship, the loss of Fifth Amendment protection is seen by many religious leaders as a real threat to religious freedom
