Grace Community Church v. Planning & Zoning Commission

This is an appeal from the denial by the defendant planning and zoning commission of the town of Bethel (commission) of a special permit to construct a church building in a residential zone. The appeal addresses, among other issues, whether municipal zoning laws can exclude churches as a permitted use anywhere in the municipality and whether denial of a special permit for a church violates the state and federal constitutions. The plaintiff, Grace Community Church, has also raised these constitutional questions in a direct attack on the zoning regulations of the town of Bethel in a separate…