Abstract
In Martin v. Corporation of the Presiding Bishop, 747 N.E.2d 131 (Mass. 2001), 53 ZD XX, the highest state court in Massachusetts ruled that the Dover Amendment,1 a state statute that denies local government the authority to “prohibit, regulate or restrict the use of land or structures for religious purposes …” authorized the Town of Belmont to grant a church special permission to build a steeple for a newly built Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple that was taller than the local zoning provisions would normally allow. Since Martin involved a Massachusetts statute, normally the decision would evoke limited interest, and have little precedential value, in other states. So why, you may ask, am I reading four comments about the case in Land Use Law and Zoning Digest? The answer is simple. The U.S. Congress has ensured, in a new law, that many communities will soon face the same basic issue in the Martin case: Should zoning accommodate religious uses or vice versa?