Well, hey, if he doesn't make a profit after so many years, the IRS will declare it a hobby anyway. :)
There was a case of Buddhist monks using their home for religious purposes, including a tour bus one day and port-a-johns another day. Caused a stir, of course, because people don't want the traffic on the suburban streets, and they worry their house will depreciate in value.
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=131658&ran=62634
Is it a home? Or a house of worship?
A four-acre ranch near the corner of Princess Anne and West Neck roads is both, and the ambiguity has created a face-off between religion and regulation in the rural fields of Pungo.
The issue started last year when a master Buddhist monk moved into the four-bedroom, $950,000 house at 4177 West Neck Road. Two younger monks live with him. Others pass through the house.
Meditative services were held there, then holiday celebrations. Cars pulled up often. Portable bathrooms were set up one weekend. One day, a tour bus showed up. Neighbors complained and, in January, master monk Thanh Cong Doan asked the city to allow the Buddhist Education Center of America Inc. to operate out of his home.
And so, at last week's City Council meeting, church met state. "What it really comes down to... is does this council have the right to say nobody can come to visit people's homes?" Councilman Bob Dyer asked at the meeting. "Do we have the right?"
The answer was: yes, kind of.
Council acquiesced to services continuing at the home for 12 months. But it decided a religious use inside a single-family house in Pungo, the gateway to the city's rural neighborhoods, was inappropriate and urged Doan to find a new place to hold services.
Several council members said they were uncomfortable with Doan's original request to build a 6,000-square-foot pagoda on the front lawn. That idea was dropped when neighbors complained.
"As long as they're living there and doing typical residential things, that's absolutely acceptable," said Councilwoman Barbara Henley, who represents the rural Princess Anne district. " It's the organized services there that have triggered the need for the use permit."
The council approved the permit, temporarily, but the monks don't plan to move anytime soon.
They relocated last year, from Kempsville to Pungo. They now plan to spend the next year convincing residents and council members that they can be a good neighbor.
Through translator Abbie Tang, a producer at WAVY-TV, monks Chuc Thanh and Chuc Hoi said they will use the year to prove their services are quiet, meditative sessions.
Under the rules of their permit, they may hold services three hours on Sundays and three holidays a year. Crowd sizes are limited to 20 people on Sundays and 50 for holidays.
"The year is fine," Tang translated for the monks.
"Within that year, at least they have the opportunity to change some minds. This is their work."
It won't be easy.
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