Another land use case where even the good news is bad

Maui church prevails in battle over land use - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper:
"But the Planning Commission twice denied a special-use permit that would have allowed construction of a sanctuary, fellowship hall and use of the land. The commission instead agreed with neighbors who claimed that the church would lead to increased traffic and noise, added burden to county services and a deterioration of the rural atmosphere."

This is another one of those stories that pulls me in several directions at once. Certainly it is heartening that the Hale O Kaula congregation will, after more than a decade, be permitted to build and sanctuary, fellowship hall, etc. on its six acre site. And the fact that Maui County's insurance company will pony up $700,000 in compensation for the delay is clearly good news for the church. On the other hand, the settlement of the lawsuit requires the church to submit to limits on the times and duration of activities at the site.

However, anyone who loves the Constitution has to be disappointed that even this ambiguous victory was only obtained by the invocation of a suit under a federal statute (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act) which pretends to control local planning and land use activities even though the Congress has no power whatsoever to legislate in that area except with regard to the District of Columbia and a few territories.