A committee of the Prince George’s County Council has denied a water permit change that would have allowed a Seventh-day Adventist congregation to move forward in its nearly decade-long battle to build a new church.
The council’s Committee on Transportation, Housing and Environment on Thursday voted 4 to 0 against granting a water permit category change to Reaching Hearts International Ministries.
The Rev. Michael Oxentenko called the decision “religious discrimination.”
Reaching Hearts bought a 17-acre parcel in Laurel in 2002. The church applied to the council, which also functions as the county’s zoning panel, for a “category change” that would allow it to connect water and sewer lines to the property.
But the council never moved to approve the application. As a result, the church filed a discrimination lawsuit against the county in federal court. The church said the council was using zoning regulations to prevent it from building.
Three years ago, the church won a federal appeal of a $3.7 million discrimination verdict against the county.
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