Des Plaines sued after rejecting plans for mosque

[rug]

By Manya Brachear
PashmanTribune reporter
7:06 a.m. CDT, September 17, 2013

A Bosnian Muslim congregation filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Des Plaines and five aldermen, alleging they violated its religious freedom when they denied permission to convert a vacant office building into a community center and Muslim house of worship.

The American Islamic Center claims in the suit that aldermen violated its constitutional rights by refusing to rezone an industrial park to accommodate a mosque.

"We are not happy that we have to file this lawsuit," said Imam Senad Agic. "We are hoping the City Council of Des Plaines would understand our religious needs."

But aldermen say allowing any house of worship in an industrial park would endanger pedestrians and impede neighboring manufacturers.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/des_plaines/chi-lawsuit-des-plaines-zoning-denial-violates-muslim-groups-religious-freedom-20130916,0,4079866.story

[cbayer]

1. Based on the information available, it's really hard to tell whether the rejection has merit or not.

The group backing the suit won their last one, so they must think this case has merit as well.

[Igel]

2. Do religious groups have to abide by zoning requirements?

Can towns refuse to rezone high-tax lands to tax-free lands?

We've seen that towns don't have to worry about citizens' rights to remain secure in their own homes and not have their property placed under eminent domain if there's tax money to be made.

If it were a Xian church, DU would have no problem in rendering their moot verdict.

[cbayer]

3. It's not clear that this is about zoning at all.

It appears to be somewhat arbitrary, but information is hard to come by.

I'm not at all sure what you mean by your last line.