Neighbors in West Penn Township are about to take part in a complicated zoning hearing involving privacy and religion. The West Penn Township Zoning Hearing Board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday to hear the matter of the township versus Blue Mountain Zendo.

Is Blue Mountain Zendo, located on Deere Lane, a house of worship? What is a place of worship? Just how private is a "private lane?" Can the general public use a private road?Gretchen Stearns, the township solicitor, will represent the township; Joriki Baker, Blue Mountain Zendo, will be represented by the law firm of Kozloff Stoudt, Wyomissing.The case began when West Penn Township Zoning Officer William Anders sent Blue Mountain Zendo a "cease and desist" order for operating a house of worship.Baker is appealing the order, basing his case on the issue of whether or not a group of people praying together is to be considered a place of worship.The ArgumentsRev. (Osho) Joriki Baker lives at 44 Deere Lane with his family. Baker said the gatherings at his house are a "small group of Zen Monks and Nuns who meet for silent prayer and meditation on Sunday evenings.""I will tell you this, they are attempting to prohibit us, with a cease-and-desist order, from meeting in my home to pray and meditate," Baker said. "Trying to be diplomatic, I offered to concede to their (West Penn Township) demand that we apply for a special use permit, even though I don't agree that we meet the criteria for a place of worship." Baker's application for a hearing lists the present use of the property as "residential and accessory uses" and the proposed future use as "continuing use of property for residential and accessory uses."Baker said there were no issues with neighbors until members of the Zen Buddhist group, called the Blue Mountain Zendo, were spotted "dressed in our formal robes, walking in mediation on our own two acres of property.""Before that time, we were welcomed with open arms and warm handshakes," he said.Neighbors Bruce and Janet Plasha spoke in opposition to the Blue Mountain Zendo during a township meeting in September. They said then that the group has created lots of additional traffic, causing wear and tear on the road which residents must pay to maintain. At that time, Stearns told them that a notice of violation had been delivered to Baker on Sept. 12.Attorneys for both sides declined to comment before the hearing. So far, no national group such as the American Civil Liberties Union has announced an intention to attend the hearing, according to township secretary Bobbi Jo Muffley.Definitions Important to the HearingAccording to Pennsylvania municipal law, a "private road" is defined as one limited to an owner or a group of owners who share the use and maintain the road without help from a government agency. In the property deeds of the 11 residences on Deere Lane, the roadway is described as "private" and each deed includes required road maintenance contributions, shared equitably among the land owners according to their location on the road. However, according to the definition, a private road is open to the public.A house of worship is defined as a specially designed structure or consecrated space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study.Zoning laws regarding places of worship have changed in the last 50 years. Traditionally, according to Pennsylvania law going back to the 1930s, a house of worship was a use allowed by right in a residential district. In more recent times, zoning definitions have changed to allow a house of worship as a use granted only by special exception.If a property is advertised as a place for a specific congregation to meet, does that legally make it a house of worship? The West Penn Zoning Board will also have to take that into consideration.Members of the Zoning Hearing Board are Tony Prudenti, Ron Calarco and David Imschweiler.