DE PERE, Wis. -- It might take the wisdom of Solomon to solve a growing dispute between the city of De Pere and New Life Christian Church.
According to The Green Bay News-Chronicle, the church's leaders insist they want to work with the city of De Pere to find a compromise for their plan to purchase an old furniture store and begin worshiping there.
The church said it will buy the site on March 21 with or without the city's blessing, and it likely will take the city to court if officials won't allow the church to move in.
Business owners near the vacant store oppose the church's purchase, saying a church in the heart of downtown will kill them. Some say they will relocate if New Life moves in.
On March 18, the De Pere City Council tabled a request to reconsider a previous decision to deny special zoning for the church. The council voted against the request for the special zoning for the property in February.
Shortly after, council members and the city received a letter from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty warning the denial could violate the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) as well as the U.S. Constitution.
Ald. Kathy Van Vonderen made the motion to reconsider the issue, but she said it didn't have to do with the threat of legal action.
"I think we should stop looking at ways it shouldn't be one or the other," she said. "We have to let the interested parties have time to think."
