Sandy Springs, USA - The planning commission in the affluent Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs is opposing plans to turn a former office building into the Georgia headquarters of the Church of Scientology.
The commission doesn't have the authority to stop the project, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports, but its 3-2 vote against it is to be taken into account when the city council votes next month.
This caught our eye because we reported a story a couple of weeks ago about the difficulty large churches, synagogues and mosques are having winning municipal approvals for major expansions or new building projects. One imagines Scientology, being enduringly controversial, facing additional hurdles.
Federal law makes it illegal to discriminate against building projects over religious affiliations. But church builders say complaints about traffic, aesthetics and other issues are often a cover for hostility toward the faith to be represented.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says 30 opponents attended the planning commission meeting last week. No one is quoted as having a problem with Scientology.