Church Has No Vested Right Under Prior Zoning Ordinance

In Christian Assembly Rios De Agua Viva v. City of Burbank, (IL App., March 31, 2011), an Illinois appellate court refused to grant a congregation a preliminary injunction to permit it to operate a church on property it has contracted to purchase.  The city recently amended its zoning ordinance precludes churches on the property in question. The church argued it had a vested right under the pre-amended ordinance to operate on the property. The court disagreed, since the church's argument was based merely on its belief that the pre-amendment ordinance violated state and federal law and the requirement that churches obtain a special use permit could be successfully challenged. The court went on to uphold the amended ordinance that excluded from commercial districts any uses that did not produce taxable income.