By Elizabeth Gresosky
On Thursday, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear a case regarding a Catholic church in Kentucky and its right to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary on the property it owns next to the church, the AP reports.
The property bought by the church was zoned for residential purposes, so the church applied to the local zoning board for a conditional use permit and variances. The zoning board granted the group – the Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist – the conditional use permit and setback variances, which allowed them to build the shrine on the tract of land.
The Kentucky Supreme Court ultimately concluded, however, that the zoning board did not have the authority to grant the permit and variances.
The attorneys for the Missionaries contend that the land-use regulations prohibiting a church from building a religious structure on its own property constitutes a substantial burden on religious exercise.
They also argue that the regulations violate the Equal Terms provisions of the RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act), a civil rights law that aims to protect religious individuals and organizations from being discriminated against unfairly compared to non-religious individuals or organizations.
The case originated with a couple living in a neighborhood near the church property who argued that the shrine project would “exacerbate traffic problems,” according to the AP.
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