Excerpt:
A federal judge on Friday reversed a DuPage County board decision that kept an Islamic worship center from opening just outside Naperville.
The Irshad Learning Center sought to open in a single-family home at 25W030 75th St. that had been previously used as a private school. In 2010, the county board voted 10-7 to deny its application for a conditional use permit after some neighbors complained their property values would go down.
Irshad, which has about 75 members, filed a lawsuit challenging the decision on grounds ranging from religious discrimination to the county's alleged violations of its own zoning laws. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer found in a 70-page ruling there was no "direct evidence of deliberate discrimination" by the county or its workers, though she noted that a zoning board of appeals member had asked the group's attorney if animal sacrifices would be held.