I know it's appeared here before but I still love this article by Ms. Hamilton:
"...When Congress passed RLUIPA, it did so with the intent of benefiting religious groups, by giving them the right to challenge the application of land use and zoning laws to their properties. But the members never considered that the impact of giving religious landowners special privileges would be to demote all other property owners to second-class citizens. This unintended consequence has been disastrous -- and the effect has been felt nationwide.
In cases around the country, property owners are learning the hard way about their second-class status. For example, suppose a religious group wants to come into a single-family residential neighborhood to open a large day care center, a three-story synagogue, or a megachurch -- but it cannot satisfy the land use rules. Nowadays, such groups wave RLUIPA in the air, and too often are allowed to break those rules with impunity.
But lately, a backlash against RLUIPA has been gaining steam, and it is informative for federal and state representatives alike. The federal RLUIPA may well be struck down as unconstitutional..."
CC will satisfy the rules. That's why the town is trying to use every other tactic besides the normal PB review process to shut them down. i.e. Stalling and eminent domain.
