USA: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Oshkosh Chapter mosque plans resisted | Daily prayer services a matter of neighborly concern

Neighboring property owners have filed a petition opposing an Islamic group's request to convert a former west side funeral home into a mosque and community center.

Participants at Oct 14 introductory meeting : Photo Newspaper

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Green Bay Press Gazette
By Jeff Bollier | October 31, 2010

OSHKOSH — The Oshkosh Plan Commission will review the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Oshkosh Chapter's conditional use permit application to convert the former Seefeld Funeral Home, 300 N. Eagle St., into a mosque and community center when it meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Neighbors, opponents and supporters have let the Oshkosh Community Development Department staff know their opinion of the group's request, which elicited mixed emotions during a community meeting on Oct. 14.

Forrest and Beverly Ware submitted a petition opposed to the proposed use that included signatures from every property owner adjacent to the proposed site. The petition indicates the property owners "do not feel this to be an appropriate use of a building in a residential neighborhood."


A similar debate took place in Green Bay earlier this year when city officials received a proposal to open a mosque in a former sporting goods store.

Neighbors and others in the community voiced concerns about Muslim extremism and possible violence or other disruptions in the neighborhood.

The City Council, however, voted 9-3 in August to permit the mosque inside the former Bob's Bait and Tackle Shop, 1512 Velp Ave. The house of worship has since opened without any reports of trouble.

In Oshkosh, Ahmadi Muslim Chapter President Khurram Ahmad said neighbors have had no contact with him or other members of the community since the Oct. 14 meeting.

"We will be accommodating to make the neighbors comfortable about it," Ahmad said. "If needed, if the neighbors are too concerned about it, we can withdraw it."

The group told city staff it would be willing to remove the request for the community center. But a staff report from the Oshkosh Community Development Department indicates the proposed use as a mosque and community center would be appropriate for a residential neighborhood.

"Additionally, the proximity of other institutional/ quasi-institutional uses such as Oshkosh West High School and Immanuel Lutheran Church show that such uses can be compatible with this predominantly single-family neighborhood," the report states.

Darryn Burich, the city's director of planning services, said the conditional use permit conditions include a requirement that community center activities be limited to the hours of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and that a privacy fence be installed on the north and east sides of the property, which directly abut neighboring homes.

What concerns some neighbors is that members of Islamic sects hold five daily prayer services. Burich said the recommended conditions do not govern the building's use as a house of worship.


— Jeff Bollier writes for the Oshkosh Northwestern.


Read original post here: Neighbors oppose Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Oshkosh Chapter mosque plan