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DOHERTY RUMBLE & BUTLER PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION City of Lake Elmo April 20, 1999 Page 9 Even if Lake Elmo's interest in the proposed PF-Ordinance was found to be compelling, the ordinance is not narrowly tailored to advance that interest. The Zoning Code excludes churches from all zoning districts except PF, and allows new churches only after legislative approval of PF zoning. The PF zone imposes restrictions far greater than those imposed on uses with greater intensity and impact (such as motels, hotels, restaurants, offices, business parks, etc.) with no rational basis for doing so. Therefore, the Zoning Ordinance, including the proposed PF-Ordinance, is not narrowly tailored to advance any compelling interest. Because Lake Elmo does not have a compelling interest in limiting the size of churches, and because the ordinance is not narrowly tailored, the Ordinance is in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. II. Minnesota Constitution Article I § 16 of the Minnesota Constitution provides the standard under which governmental regulation of religion is evaluated in Minnesota. It is commonly known as the "freedom of conscience clause". See generally, Basich v. Board of Pensions (ELCA), 540 N.W.2d 82 (Minn. Ct. App. 1995). Section 16 states: The enumeration of rights in this constitution shall not deny or impair others retained by and inherent in the people. The right of even man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall any man be compelled to attend , erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any religious or ecclesiastical ministry against his consent; nor shall any control of or interference with the rights of conscience be permitted, or any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the state, nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any religious societies or religious or theological seminaries. 'Minnesota Constitution Article 1 §16 (emphasis added), This language is of a distinctively stronger nature than the federal counterpart, which states only that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." State v. Hershberger, 462 N.W.2d 393, 397 (Minn. 1990). Whereas the first amendment establishes a limit on government action at the point of prohibiting the exercise of religion, §16 precludes even an infringement on or an interference with religious freedom. Accordingly, government actions that may not constitute an outright prohibition on religious practices (thus not violating the first amendment) could nonetheless infringe on or interfere with those MumaG 583883 1