NORWALK : Backers of Temple Sue for Right to Build It
Backers of a plan to build a $1.2-million Hindu temple in Norwalk have filed suit in Superior Court to force the city to allow the temple to be built.
The Norwalk City Council voted against a permit for the building in July after residents said the temple would flood their neighborhood with traffic.
The suit says that the temple proposed by the International Swaminarayan Satsang Organization met or exceeded city building and parking requirements and that the council’s action deprived the Hindus of their right to religious freedom. Richard Marston, an attorney for the group, said the project would have been approved “if this were not a Hindu Temple and it had been some more conventional religious institution.”
Norwalk Mayor Robert Arthur said the council’s decision was a land-use matter and the city is “very disappointed” that the temple considers that it was based on religion. In July, the council denied that discrimination was a factor, ruling that the temple would be a regional church and create parking and traffic problems in the area.
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