Oregon Supreme Court Decides RLUIPA Case in Favor of City

The Oregon Supreme Court today decided its first case under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). In Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v. City of West Linn, the court held that the city's denial of a conditional use permit to build a new meetinghouse did not impose a "substantial burden" on the Church's religious exercise since a permit would be granted for a revised construction plan. A report about the decision carried today by Oregon Live points out that in the Supreme Court's view, the added expense and delay that would be involved in submitting a new plan is not substantial enough to be prohibited by RLUIPA.