Politics & Government

DuPage County Board Places Restrictions on Places of Worship in Unincorporated Areas

Tuesday's unanimous vote has its roots in a discussion last year that considered a blanket ban on religious and other assembly uses in unincorporated residential neighborhoods.

Places of worship may operate in unincorporated DuPage County but religious groups may not convert single-family homes for worship unless a zoning variance is obtained, according to widely reported zoning changes unanimously approved by the County Board on Tuesday. The new zoning regulations require churches, mosques and other places of assembly to comply with infrastructure, traffic and building-size restrictions.

However, none of the changes will apply to projects already being reviewed, including Islamic Center of the Western Suburbs' request to use a house near West Chicago as a prayer center.

The measure, which the board approved in a 16-0 vote, came in the wake of five recent applications for new Islamic centers or mosques in residential areas in DuPage over the last two years, WGN reported.

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The new requirements include a greater minimum lot size and, for groups trying to set up in residential neighborhoods, access to an arterial road and public water and sewer lines, WBEZ reported. The Chicago public radio station reported that the measures come after more than a year of intense discussions with community and religious groups. Last year the county considered a blanket ban on allowing religious and other assembly uses into unincorporated residential neighborhoods.

DuPage County Board member Tony Michelassi told WBEZ, “I think that it is going to open up a whole new avenue for places of assembly into DuPage County, and I think that it reflects how DuPage is changing.”

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Other County Board members noted that the county's zoning process allows houses of worship to be placed in existing homes with a variance, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"The idea of coming forward with a variance to place these places of assembly in these areas is still available," County Board member Jeff Redick, R-Elmhurst, told the Tribune. "It places in our hands the opportunity as a County Board to evaluate each and every one of these applications on its face."

And County Board member Jim Zay, R-Carol Stream, told the Tribune that the measure is necessary to control disruptive changes to neighborhoods.

"What we're worried about is people's property rights," Zay said. "In our district, we have a lot of single-family homes being bought, and the next thing you know, there are 25 cars in the driveway, and (neighbors) are up in arms."

Some of those who have been critical of provisions in the new rules welcomed the passage of the code amendments, though they cautioned that the parameters remain imperfect, the Naperville Sun reported.

Maryam Judar, a community lawyer for the Citizen Advocacy Center, an Elmhurst-based non-profit, non-partisan community legal organization, told the Sun that the county’s increasingly diverse residents mean the new measures are especially warranted. However, she said her organization has concerns that the stipulations, by their nature, may apply unevenly.

“Presumably the impact will be mostly on new places of worship,” she said.

Judar told the Daily Herald that the center hopes “the zoning process is not abused to shut out those who are different from some of us and who seek to enhance their religious and spiritual life.”

Amy Lawless of DuPage United, a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose members are churches, mosques, synagogues, non-profit agencies and associations, told WBEZ that she still has reservations about the new rules. “We still recognize that it will prevent many, many congregations from even considering to build because it will be so costly in order to meet all of these restrictions,” she said.

Lawless points out that Muslim congregations in particular may be effectively kept out of unincorporated residential districts because the groups often start out small, and coming up with the money required to meet the technical requirements may be impossible.


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