Churches Are Exempt From Calif. Preservation Law.

Religious organizations are free from California's historic preservation law and may raze or modify houses of worship at will, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

The state high court ruled 4-3 Dec. 21 that a 1994 California law exempting houses of worship from local historic preservation ordinances is constitutional. The measure blocks counties and cities from enforcing such laws against houses of worship, freeing them to demolish or alter their structures as they see fit.

In passing the law, the state "simply stepped out of the way of the religious property owner," Justice Marvin Baxter wrote for the majority.

But dissenting Justice Stanley Mosk argued that the measure infringes on church-state separation by giving religious groups a powerful benefit that other organizations do not enjoy. Mosk asserted that the ruling would give religious leaders the right to knock down historic structures "for the purpose of erecting an office building simply for financial advantage."

State legislators passed the law to help Roman Catholic Church leaders in San Francisco and Los Angeles who wanted to close a number of old churches with dwindling congregations. Some parishioners grew angry over the proposed closings and threatened to sue under historic preservation laws to keep the churches open.

A state judge declared the law unconstitutional in 1996, but his ruling was overturned on appeal. The state supreme court ruling upholds that opinion. (East Bay Asian Development Corporation v. State of California)