Burmese Buddhist Community Blocked From Building a Worship Center in California

December 1, 1998

Source: Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

In the Winter 1998 issue of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, an article reported on the struggle by the Myanmar Buddhist Society of America to establish a monastery and worship center in Chino, CA. In January of 1998, Chino City officials said that they would not grant a sewer connection to the proposed worship center because it would produce unmanageable traffic volumes for the small community. In a public hearing in April, the planning commission concluded that the concern over increased traffic was exaggerated and recommended that the proposed plan for the worship center be approved. In July, at the urging of a coalition of Chino residents, a building permit was denied to the Buddhist Society. The citizen's group, while decrying any notion of bias against Buddhism, argued that the monastery's presence might "result in the dilution of both community values and property values." The Myanmar Buddhist Society has now filed a state lawsuit against Chino, alleging violation of First Amendment rights under the 1998 Religious Liberty Protection Act, which allows land use legislation that substantially burdens religious exercise only if it meets a compelling interest test.