Court Rejects Religious Group's Challenges To Chicago's Zoning Permit Requirement

The decision from several months ago in World Outreach Conference Center v. City of Chicago, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88747 (ND IL, May 13, 2008) has recently become available on LEXIS. In the case, an Illinois federal district court rejected a series of challenges to the 2-year delay by the city of Chicago in granting World Outreach Conference Center a single room occupancy (SRO) license for a former YMCA building it purchased. WOCC wanted to create "a Christ-oriented community center ... and ... provid[e] shelter to the needy and homeless by renting out the SRO units." The court dismissed plaintiffs' nine-count complaint which had alleged violations of RLUIPA, the free exerrcise and establishment clauses, the equal protection clause, Chicago's zoning law and the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act.