In March, Councilmember Jack Evans (ward 2) introduced a bill to essentially exempt churches from historic preservation. It was clearly designed for Third Church, the Brutalist octagonal pipe that should not be a landmark, but would have much broader implications. Now, the bill is back, reintroduced on June 10 by Marion Barry (ward 8), Richard Layman reports.

According to my I-am-not-a-lawyer-

but-play-one-

on-the-blog analysis, the bill would go beyond RLUIPA by allowing churches to get out of preservation (declare themselves “noncontributing”) just on their say-so that the preservation rules substantially interfere with their religious exercise. Does it interfere with religious exercise when a church can’t demolish nearby rowhouses to add more parking? After all, people can’t pray if they can’t park (unless they walk, bike or take transit of course).

Layman relates the story of Pilgrim Baptist Church in the H Street area, which let two old row houses decay and fall apart so they could put in a parking lot, and Shiloh Baptist Church, which maintains many vacant properties on Ninth Street which they refuse to use or sell, hindering the creation of a lively neighborhood.

As I’ve argued before, as has Layman and others, churches should not be unduly burdened because they are churches, but neither should they be unduly privileged. Third Church should go because it’s a bad building for the city. If it were a hotel or a federal office building, I’d say the same thing. Let’s not allow enthusiasm for tearing down that church to topple valuable protections for other churches.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.