LAS VEGAS — After it says it is being blocked by a Henderson ordinance from building a Hindu temple on a 5-acre patch of land in a rural neighborhood, a local Hindu group accuses the city of discrimination.
The association is now appealing to the federal government to intervene on its behalf.
The American Hindu Association says a city ordinance that was updated in 2023 to restrict the construction of religious institutions in the neighborhood where it had bought the land for about $450,000 in 2021 is discriminatory and violates their constitutional rights.
‘Unduly burdened’
The group alleges it was the culmination of a series of obstacles put in the way of temple’s construction by Henderson.
“From the onset, AHA’s efforts and its application process and approvals necessary to commence construction have been unduly burdened, delayed or otherwise stonewalled by the (city of Henderson),” the association alleges in a letter to the Department of Justice.
The group, which said it first started meeting with the city to discuss its intention to build a temple in October 2021, is appealing to the Department of Justice with the hope that federal officials will find that Henderson is in violation of a federal law that aims to protect religious institutions from discrimination in zoning laws.
“I am very sure that justice will prevail,” said Satish Bhatnagar, who is the association’s president and a longtime UNLV math professor. “It may be delayed, but it will not be denied.”
For the city’s part, a spokesman said in an email that the change of the ordinance was not targeted at any specific use or group and that the ordinance was updated “to preserve the rural lifestyle of the residents in the area.”
“The City did not change the Code to disallow the temple,” Justin Emerson, the city of Henderson’s public information officer, said in an email.
“The updated ordinance states that large, intensive uses are no longer permitted, including airports, police and fire stations, cemeteries, shooting ranges, etc., and religious assemblies and schools may not be located on certain streets in rural neighborhoods,” Emerson’s email also stated.
The proposed temple was initially approved by the city’s planning commission in 2022.
