Al Salam Foundation worship center in Indianapolis is planning a move to a larger facility planned to be built in Carmel. Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar
CARMEL, Ind. — Residents upset at plans for a mosque about 30 feet from some houses demanded that a Muslim foundation find another place to build.
But religious leaders at the Al Salam Foundation said finding a place in this upscale Indianapolis suburb has not been easy. They've been looking for five years.
"There are very few sellers in the community who are willing to work with us on the idea of building a mosque," foundation President Nadeem Ikhlaque said. "Several said the land is for sale but not for us."
The foundation has submitted plans to build a 28,000-square-foot mosque, to be called the Islamic Life Center, on five acres.
The problem: The location selected is in a residential area. The property backs onto a neighborhood where homes have sold for more than $700,000.
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The Muslim group is trying to get the Carmel Board of Zoning Appeals to approve its plans as a special use, allowed under the residential code. But homeowners are worried about additional traffic, light, noise and a potential drop in home values.
On Sunday, about a week before the zoning board was scheduled to discuss the plans, the Al Salam Foundation had a community meeting at Carmel Christian Church to address questions. About 100 people filled the pews.
Ikhlaque responded to concerns he had received in letters, promising no outdoor speakers, a hot-line number where residents could report any disturbances from construction, and any cars that parked in the nearby neighborhoods rather than the mosque parking lot would be towed.
"I will take full responsibility personally, and I will take full responsibility as president," he said.
The dome of the building has been lowered from initial plans, so it will be less than 35 feet tall. The entrances are from the main roads, so traffic won't be rerouted to the neighborhoods, Ikhlaque said.
He also expects home values in the area to rise as the mosque creates more demand from Muslims who want to live close to their mosque.
However, the parking lot is along the back of the property, which the architect said was to allow people to enter from the west and head toward the worship area that must face northeast. Plans show 30 feet of vegetation between the lot and some homes' backyards.
One resident complained that he had spent his life savings on an house and will lose his privacy.
Mike Andreoli, a Zionsville, Ind., lawyer who has been hired to represent some residents, criticized the Al Salam Foundation for waiting until a week before the vote to reach out to the community. He questioned whether the group soon would expand to an additional nine acres to the north, which is also part of the sale.
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Al Salam Foundation leaders said they have no expansion plans, and a gas line running through the northern acreage prevents them from building much on that portion of the property. Purchasing the additional land was the only way the seller would agree to the deal, they said.
But residents remained skeptical.
The Muslim group, whose members are drawn mostly from Carmel, Westfield and Zionsville, has outgrown its current rented space with about 150 people squeezing in for Friday prayers. That crowd gathers only from 1 p.m. ET to 2:30 p.m. Fridays; on weekdays the average gathering is about 20 people or seven to 12 cars, Ikhlaque said.
When one homeowner suggested foundation leaders buy a commercial lot a few miles south, Ikhlaque said they made an offer on that property before finding the lot in their neighborhood and were denied.
After the meeting Ikhlaque said he didn't think the refusals to sell or the community's concerns had anything to do with religion.
Church buildings in older residential neighborhoods in many cities are common. In the 1930s when cities began to put zoning codes in place, houses of worship were allowed under municipal zoning codes in residential areas because many people walked to worship, according to Useful Community Development, a website that four city planners write to help others understand zoning issues.
Now various court decisions and the federal Religious Land Uses and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 directs local governments not to restrict religious practice in a burdensome way unless the government has a compelling interest. The federal law does not block special-use permits but specifies that religious uses of a parcel cannot be more restrictive than nonreligious meeting places.
► July 2013: Mosque opponents take case to Tennessee Supreme Court
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Almost seven years ago, a group of residents in Murfreesboro, Tenn., vigorously protested the construction of a larger mosque built for a congregation of 250 families and 1,000 people. The federal Justice Department ended up suing the county based on the 2000 law, and the mosque opened in November 2012.
Residents there mounted a court case saying they had not received adequate public notice of the meeting in which the county's planning commission approved the mosque plans. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.
More recently, the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge sued Bernards Township, N.J., after township officials continued to add new conditions to grant a special use permit, eventually denying the permit to the congregation. A settlement in May gave the Muslim group $3.25 million and the conditional-use permit it needed to start construction.
► July 2012: Tennessee mosque can open, federal judge rules
► February 2012: Number of U.S. mosques up 74% since 2000
"Not one person who has contacted me asked about religion," Carmel City Councilman Kevin Rider said. He encouraged community members to stop posting on social media, where comments can be misconstrued.
Rider said he hopes the zoning board will delay the decision. But he suggested that Carmel residents work to improve plans for the mosque because communities frequently push back on projects that use residential property but those projects often are approved.
Contributing: Bobby King, The Indianapolis Star. Follow Emma Kate Fittes on Twitter: @IndyEmmaKate
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