A Deschutes County proposal to allow churches in areas zoned to help deer, elk and antelope has a land use group and a state agency concerned about the impacts on wildlife that need undisturbed tracts of land for habitat, food and migration. A proposal before the county planning commission seeks to change the county’s comprehensive plan text and land use regulation, aiming to comply with the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The proposed changes would alter the word "church" to "religious institutions" and add "religious institution" as a new use in certain zoning districts. "We just have to comply with federal law," said Nicole Mardell, an associate planner with the county. The U.S. Congress adopted RLUIPA in 2000 over concerns that land use and zoning regulations sometimes burdened religious groups and limited their ability to express their religious freedom, while other groups such as assembly halls and museums did not face the same burden, according to county planning division materials on the issue. Based on concerns at the county level that First Amendment rights were being infringed upon, the county tried to change its zoning and comprehensive plan in 2017 to allow churches in the wildlife area […]
