Church Announces Legal Action Taken against City of Balch Springs

Plano, TX- At a press conference today, pastors and families of Templo La Fe Worship Center (a small, bilingual church) and their attorneys announced that they have sent a demand letter to the City of Balch Springs regarding religious discrimination.

“How many times does the City of Balch Springs have to be punished for their religious discrimination before they understand it is against the law,” said Hiram Sasser, Director of Litigation with Liberty Legal Institute.

In 1997, the Church purchased 6.313 acres of land (11920 I.H. 20) in Balch Springs for the purpose of constructing a church building in the future. The Church paid approximately $33,000 for a new water line main to be installed with assurance from the City that they could move forward with the construction. As stated in the demand letter “…representatives of the Church attended numerous meetings with City officials in which they were repeatedly told that the Church could construct its new facility on the property it had purchased.”

The City’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the Church’s plan to construct their building, but weeks later the City Council overruled the Commission’s decision to prevent construction of the Church building.