Ill Ct App church zoning case

[Volokh, Eugene]

        City of Chicago Heights v. Living Word Outreach Full Gospel
Church & Ministries, Inc., 1998 WL 877885 (Ill. App. Dec. 16), holds
that the Illinois Constitution doesn't require strict scrutiny of
incidental burdens on religious exercise, but goes on to say in dictum
that there's a "compelling interest [in] enforc[ing] zoning laws," even
laws aimed not at protecting residential users but "to invigorate the
commercial corridor to regenerate declining revenues and create a strong
tax base" (citing United States v. Lee).


Eugene Volokh, UCLA Law School
405 Hilgard Ave., L.A., CA 90095