Homeowners appeal Santa Fe county's OK of religious compound
By The Associated Press
Posted: 12/27/2012 11:13:23 AM MST
SANTA FE — A group of Taos-area homeowners is appealing Santa Fe County's decision to allow construction on Seagram's whiskey heir Jeffrey Bronfman's property where church members drink a hallucinogenic tea as a sacrament.
The six Arroyo Hondo homeowners object to the county spending about $400,000 to extend a waterline and build a sewage-treatment system there, saying using taxpayer money violates New Mexico's anti-donation clause and the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state.
The notice of appeal was filed by Joseph Karnes on behalf of the homeowners in state court on Wednesday.
"While the waterline might have tangential benefits to the area, the expenditure of public funds in an effort to solve a private developer's problems is blatantly unconstitutional," Karnes told the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_22268081
