Title
Ordinance amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances, Title XI, Historic Preservation, Chapter 1101: - Historic Structures, Districts, Sites and Objects, by adding new language.
Body
Whereas, historic preservation, used properly, is a tool that can protect vital elements of the City's rich culture and history; and,
Whereas, the City must, however, avoid and prevent the arbitrary or capricious application of landmarking, or historic preservation laws precisely because the use of its' police powers, at times have been used by some to punish those with whom they do not agree; and,
Whereas, the City must also take care not to force certain individual landowners to bear alone public burdens which should be borne by all City taxpayers; and,
Whereas, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), an Act of Congress, requires that "No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution, unless the government demonstrates that imposition of the burden on that person, assembly, or institution: a.) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and b.) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest"; and,
Whereas, the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, in a letter dated December 15, 2016, notified each the of nation's 39,044 municipalities and counties in each of the 50 states of their affirmative duty to comply with the requirements of RLUIPA; and,
Whereas, it is inappropriate for the City to decide if or when it will follow the mandates of federal law or the Constitution of the United States.
Be it therefore resolved that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enact as follows:
Section 1. The Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances, Title XI - Historic Preservation, is hereby amended as follows:
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