Martin v. Corporation of the Presiding Bishop: Should Zoning Accommodate Religious Uses or Vice Versa?

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?