Closing its inquiry into the city of Des Plaines' zoning practices, the U.S. Department of Justice has entered into a consent decree with the northwest suburb to ensure it does not deny zoning requests for houses of worship on the basis of religion, according to a settlement agreement released Tuesday.

The settlement stems from a civil rights case brought by the federal government against Des Plaines in September 2015 after the City Council denied permission to a Muslim congregation to convert a vacant office building into a community center and house of worship.

The federal government's case came two years after the Bosnian Muslim congregation, formerly known as the American Islamic Center, sued the city, alleging it violated its religious freedom by ignoring a recommendation from the city's planning commission and refusing to rezone an industrial park to accommodate a mosque. Some aldermen argued that allowing any house of worship in an industrial park would endanger pedestrians and impede neighboring manufacturers.

In addition to the agreement with the Justice Department, the city agreed to pay the mosque $580,000.