Buddhist monks can't use house as temple

"Virginia Beach - Buddhist monks must stop holding services at their home near Pungo.In an 8-2 vote Tuesday, the Virginia Beach City Council denied the monks' request to use their West Neck Road house as a temple with a Sunday service for two more years."

This makes me a bit sad because a large part of my exposure to Buddhism as a child came from Buddhist monastics who used residential houses as a temple. My parents would take me to the temple-house usually during weekends and light incense, talk with the monks, have lunch, and listen to the monks chant. I especially enjoyed the personal touch of being in a house rather than a temple. I found that I became a lot closer to the monks from the temple-house than ones from a temple. Of course, this was in Southern California, where there are Asian ethnic suburbs that may be more tolerant and familiar with Buddhism than a neighborhood in Virginia.

Here's the full background story.