Munns v. Martin

We are confronted yet again with the question of whether a local land use ordinance designed to further historic preservation and aesthetic purposes violates our State’s free exercise of religion clause, Wash. Const, art. I, § 11 (amend. 34) when applied to a structure that is part of a church’s religious ministry.

Walla Walla’s demolition permit ordinance provides a "cooling off period” during which the religious organization is subject to negotiation with governmental and private authorities before an historic or architecturally significant structure can be demolished. The ordinance is an…