<< Vietnamese Monks, Chuc Thanh, left, and Chuc Hoi speak last year about the problems they are having in the Pungo community in Virginia Beach - Photo: Gary C. Knapp 

While the monks urged patience, for several Virginia Beach Planning Commissioners the clock had run out. In a 6-4 vote last week, the commission recommended that the monks shut down their temple in rural Virginia Beach. Now the City Council will be asked to decide in the next month whether they can continue to live there.

The Buddhist Education Center of America Inc. had requested a two-year extension to a permit issued last August that allowed the organization to hold worship services in the house. The master Buddhist monk lives in the house, along with some younger monks, and worshippers come there on Sundays and for three celebrations during the year.

"What the Buddhists want to do is keep the status quo," Fine said.

Commissioner Eugene Crabtree said time is up, adding: "It makes no difference what religion they are."

Most residents said they had no problem with the monks, but some said the traffic that the Buddhist worship services bring to the neighborhood is a problem.

Louis Cullipher said the temple just doesn't fit with the city's land use for the neighborhood near Pungo or "the expectations of the residents."

He also said the monks haven't put up a "for sale" sign on the property despite the deadline.

The monks did explore two alternative sites in September and asked city planners whether the properties would accommodate a temple.