Neighbors voice concerns regarding Islamic Center expansion

An unusually packed house greeted the Monroe Village Planning Board members for their December 11 meeting. Nearly everyone was there to discuss the Monroe-Woodbury Islamic Center’s plans to expand its footprint at 131 Orange Turnpike. The mosque currently holds prayer sessions at 6 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. All sessions last about 20 minutes. Currently there are 170 attendees, with hopes that the new mosque could welcome 200 to 250 attendees in the future, according to their representatives. The current Islamic Center is located inside a home built as early as 1814, with parts of it potentially being constructed during the Revolutionary War, according to its neighbors. The mosque located there in 2015 and representatives of it say that the current structure is now beyond repair. Their plan, as previously detailed in The Photo News, involves demolishing the home and constructing a new Islamic Center totaling 14,596 square feet. And despite concerns from the neighbors, the mosque’s representatives have been adamant that, when finished, the building will not “light up like a stadium or something.”

But the neighbors surrounding the proposed Islamic Center disagree. While only one resident expressed a desire for the mosque to be located elsewhere, other speakers didn’t have a problem with a mosque being located in the neighborhood. What they have a problem with, and as it turns out, multiple problems with, is how the new mosque will be constructed. As a neighbor of the Islamic Center at 3 Reynolds Road said, “We never expected this historic home to be demolished for a 30-plus foot tall white stucco building.” She pointed out that her home has a shared connection with the historic house across the street, as it previously served as a barn for the old home’s owner. She asked the Monroe Village Planning Board to further investigate the historic nature of the home at 131 Orange Turnpike before any decisions are made to demolish it.

They then made suggestions about ways the mosque could better fit the neighborhood’s aesthetic character, such as using earth tones for the building’s color.

Other neighbors suggested that the Islamic Center’s clear cutting had caused runoff that flooded surrounding properties. This was echoed by another speaker who stated the current grading for the mosque is already causing a problem with runoff. They feared the new center would just make a bad situation worse and would like to see it remedied before a new building is put up. Both speakers, it should be noted, stressed they had no problem with a mosque being located in their neighborhood.

Another speaker claimed that, although the village currently regulates hours of operation for religious houses of worship, the center operates from 4:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., which often results in headlights shining into their bedrooms as “people come and go at all hours of the night.” She also mentioned concerns about safety, saying, “How long, if they build this huge mosque, is it going to take for some crazy to decide they don’t want it in town, endangering it and all the surrounding neighbors.”

Further complicating matters is that the village board, just last week, passed new rules and regulations concerning houses of worship located in residential areas. To remedy this, and to accommodate the mosque representatives who now must go before the zoning board to get their project in compliance with the new regulations, public comment on the Islamic Center will be extended. Comments from the public can be sent to Village Planning Board Secretary Rhonda Charles, at pbsecretary@villageofmonroe.org or by phone at 845-782-8341.