COVINGTON, La. — Teen mothers hoping for a place to call home will soon have their wish. River of Compassion Ministries, which had been denied a conditional use permit to build a home for unwed teenage mothers, will now be allowed to continue with its building project after St. Tammany Parish officials agreed to settle a lawsuit over the matter.
“Zoning rules must be fair to everyone, including Christian ministries,” said ADF-allied attorney William Magee, who represented River of Compassion Ministries in the case. “We are pleased that these young mothers will now have a safe place to go. By agreeing to do the right thing, St. Tammany Parish officials have avoided needless litigation and have removed the impediment for the construction of a home for these girls and their unborn babies, both of whom require a caring and compassionate environment in which to live.”
In January 2005, River of Compassion Ministries began meeting with landowners living adjacent to the planned home site in an effort to keep them apprised of the building plan. After the homeowner’s association adjoining the site said that it did not want the building, a parish councilman moved to deny River of Compassion a conditional use permit, even though the ministry met all the requirements for the permit and had received the approval of the staff for the Department of Development. The full parish council voted to deny the permit.
River of Compassion then filed suit in the state district court. After negotiations with Magee, with the Covington law firm Magee & Devereux, parish officials decided to grant the permit to the ministry and allow the home to be built.
A copy of the dismissal order issued by the 22nd Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Tammany in
River of Compassion Ministries v. Parish of St. Tammany as a result of the settlement agreement is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/TammanySettlement.pdf.
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