RLUIPA to the Rescue?

Here's an interesting story out of the Seattle area:

In a letter delivered by hand Wednesday afternoon, Redmond officials warned St. Jude Catholic Church that if the church welcomed a homeless encampment this weekend, it would be breaking city code and subject to code enforcement, said Stephen Fischer, senior planner with the city. On Monday, a city hearing examiner granted an appeal to the permit that laid out the terms of the Tent City 4 stay in Redmond. The appeal stated that the city's planning department erred by failing to bring the issue before the City Council.

City officials say the hearing examiner's decision means Tent City 4 no longer has a permit to move to Redmond, Fischer said. City planners plan to appeal the hearing examiner's decision to the City Council, he said. The planning department contends that it followed proper permit procedure, Fischer said.  St. Jude's pastor, the Rev. David Rogerson, said he and other members of the pastoral council planned to meet Wednesday night to discuss whether the church will welcome the campers Saturday, the planned move-in date.  The camp is currently set up at St. John Mary Vianney Catholic Church in the Finn Hill neighborhood near Kirkland. Camp adviser Bruce Thomas said the campers have no place else to go, and promised their host and neighbors they'd be out by the weekend.

I hope St. Jude's fights the good fight on this.