[San Francisco Chronicle] SCOTUS action means Fremont can force Buddhist woman to tear down unpermitted temple

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a woman in Fremont, East Bay, must comply with the city’s orders to remove a Buddhist temple she built on her property without a permit. The woman, MiaoLan Lee, bought the 29-acre property in 2010 and added new structures, including several buildings she converted into the Temple of 1001 Buddhas. In 2021, Fremont officials found that the temple and several other buildings posed fire hazards and other dangers and ordered Lee to take them down. Lee accused the city of ethnic and religious discrimination, but a federal judge and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Lee had failed to show the city was motivated by discrimination. The Supreme Court denied review of Lee’s appeal, making these rulings final. Fremont’s lawyers responded that Lee had not offered any plausible evidence that the city’s order to remove Buddha statues from a condemned building was motivated by anti-religious animus. The city intends to continue to pursue enforcement action to address the illegally constructed structures.

Source: Conversation with Bing
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/fremont-buddhist-temple-19404435.php