DuPage Board rightly rejects imposing limits on churches

The DuPage County Board of Commissioners rightly rejected a decision that would impose strict limitations on where churches can build. According to the Daily Herald, board members said they initially wanted to control church construction and growth in residential areas. But, they said the proposed zoning changes went beyond what the commission intended when the issue of controlling church construction was first broached. The board said they wanted to control the growth of churches in residential areas after they received petitions to turn several single-family homes into a religious facility.

The proposal would have required new churches to build on at least five acres, which opponents complained would limit churches to only parcels along highways or industrial parks. But that would also limit new church construction and expansion of existing churches. Property in DuPage County is at a premium, especially in the eastern portions of the county. New churches would have to rent empty theaters or seek empty strip mall spaces.

Considering DuPage County already has ordinances in place to prevent the construction of religious sites or places of assembly if the site is deemed to have traffic, parking or other site-specific problems. But it is wise to block the turning of single-family homes into places of worship and perhaps a property tax dodge. But penalizing church construction is not the right answer to addressing this problem.