Agenda - Planning Commission - 01/07/1997

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NOVEMBER 1996 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Zoning and Big Box Religion By Jim Schwab, AICP Ifa society's religious practices in some way reflect its values and lifestyles, recent trends on the church scene should be no surprise. After all, neighborhood grocery stores have succumbed to large chains. Small independent retail stores have succumbed to the Wal-Marts, the Kmarts, and the category killers. Entertainment, sports, and numerous other enterprises have grown in size in the last half-century. Who would expect organized religion to be any different? But we do expect it to be different, in part because churches and synagogues are often seen as repositories of timeless values and as central factors in anchoring the moral life of a neighborhood. Since the advent of zoning, our prevailing concepts of religious institutions have led communities to allow religious institutions by right as permitted uses in residential Modern music and theatricality are part of the megachurch appeal, neighborhoods. The expectation that churches would have few or no detrimental impacts on surrounding properties was largely based on tradition. Whether in small towns or urban areas, churches and synagogues were off-hours attractions for people who, as often as not, walked to services. During the week, youth groups were deemed desirable because they kept youngsters off In a growing number of commUnities, churches, . · once. among the most' desirable · .":' land uses. in a community, i-?'~ "~"ha~)e b~°in~"th~ nearest:" i ~'' '~' not-in, raY, back-yard the streets and away from questionable activities. Overall, the presence of thriving churches tended to reassure residents that their neighbors had sound moral values. Today, however, new churches, particularly in certain suburban areas, are often big and busy. Many so-called "megachurches" may draw only minimally from the surrounding neighborhood for their membership of thousands, most of whom will drive to services from as far as 50 miles away. Activities flourish all week long, and the traffic seems never to cease. In a growing number of communities, churches, once among the most desirable land uses in a community, have become the newest not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) land use. At the same time, because of First Amendment considerations, rejecting their proposals for siting or expansion can land a municipality in court. The issue is poignant enough that, on October 15, 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted a zoning case from Texas that challenges the constitutionality of a recently enacted federal law dealing with religious freedom. This issue of ZoningNews discusses both the big box trend in religious institutions and the constitutional issues surrounding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. What Is a Megachurch? Megachurches do not yet have a precise or official definition. The term can almost be used as a pejorative by detractors, and communities tend to know one when they see one. But megachurches have received a good deal of attention from both religious leaders and zoning officials. On the religious side, they represent a major response to the spiritual needs of those baby boomers whom author Wade Clark Roof, a professor of religion and society at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has called A Generation of Seekers (New York: HarperCollins, 1993).