City officials are revamping Portland's zoning to make it easier for religious groups to establish places of worship.
The city is responding to a lawsuit alleging that it violated the constitutional rights of a group of Afghan Muslims when it rejected the group's efforts to establish a mosque in a former TV repair shop on Washington Avenue.
City zoning now requires 2 acres for any new place of worship but allows smaller lots for Grange halls, community centers and private clubs, such as Elks lodges.
Because of the disparity, the federal courts will likely rule that the city is violating the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which dictates how tightly local governments may regulate land use by religious institutions, city attorney Gary Wood told the council Monday.
In response to the lawsuit, the
city's Planning Department is drafting new zoning that would treat churches, mosques and synagogues the same way it would treat community centers and private clubs.
''What you do to a building is not as germane as how many people are in it and how often,'' Alex Jaegerman, the
city's planning director, told the council.
The new rules would create a land-use category called ''places of assembly'' and establish lot size and parking requirements based on their location and the density of neighborhoods.
In densely settled neighborhoods or on land along arterial roads such as Washington Avenue, for example, a place of assembly could be established on a lot as small as a half-acre.
Places of worship established before the adoption of the new rules would be exempt.
Jaegerman said the rules would allow the mosque on Washington Avenue to remain open as long as there is enough parking space, which he believes is possible.
In addition, the group must file a site plan and remove a paved parking lot that is causing nearby properties to flood during rainstorms.
The mosque is in the former Dick Waterhouse TV repair shop at 978 Washington Ave. Last summer, the Maine Civil Liberties Union sued the city on behalf of the Afghan Muslims who run it.
Soon after the lawsuit was filed, city officials and leaders of the Portland Masjid and Islamic Center reached an agreement allowing the group to practice its religion at the site temporarily.
If the city changes its zoning, most of the lawsuit will be moot, said Zach Heiden, legal director for the Maine Civil Liberties Union. ''We are very encouraged by this development.''
He said the MCLU and the city appear to be in general agreement about the requirements of federal law, though he stopped short of saying the lawsuit would be dismissed.
Heiden said the city would still have to agree to monetary damages for his clients, an amount that he said would cover the cost of minor expenses such as city permits.
The city's staff plans to take the draft zoning proposal to the Planning Board for review before bringing it back to the City Council for approval.
Mayor Jill Duson said she agrees that the city needs new zoning rules.
''I don't think the federal statutes are the problem,'' she said. ''Our municipal ordinances are the problem.''
Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:
tbell@pressherald.com
