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Welcome to IONA Masjid
Your place of worship and learning
IONA in the News
Metro Detroit
Warren Rejects Mosque Proposal (March 16, 2006)
Planner Says He May Take City To Court
Warren's planning commission said it doesn't care what will go on inside a building that could
become the city's first mosque — it won't let the project move ahead because of what most of its
members believe would happen outside it.
But Steve Elturk — whose proposal to build the mosque and Islamic learning center at an office
and retail building on Ryan was shot down in a 6-3 vote Monday — said commissioners'
concerns about parking and the prospect of a loudspeaker announcing the Muslim call to prayer
had already been addressed by another city body.
Elturk said he may head to court to see if he can open the mosque, alleging that city officials'
rejection of the project had more to do with religion than with parking spaces.
"One of the things I learned is the City of Warren is notorious for these attitudes," said Elturk,
who added that the building cost close to $1 million. "I think the next step is going to be
litigation, lawsuits. We need to work together to bring tolerance. I'm ready to fight this."
Commission member Alan Casmere, who voted against the project, said the commission had
no racial motives in making its ruling.
"We weren't racist at all toward this gentleman," Casmere said. "I know the commission feels
strongly about that. We're not objecting to them locating in the City of Warren."
Last year, Elturk tried to put the mosque in Hazel Park, but city officials would not rezone a
property to accommodate him.
Elturk and the Islamic Organization of North America bought the building in August, and had
already agreed in writing to not broadcast the five daily calls to prayer outside. But
commissioners said Monday they were still concerned about the possibility of the call disrupting
the neighborhood.
Several residents at the commission meeting raised concerns about the external loudspeaker.
Commission members had the same worry, but Elturk said it was unfounded. On Jan. 25, Elturk
received a variance from the city's Zoning Board of Appeals to open the center in a
commercially zoned area. That variance included notice that the center could not place a
loudspeaker on the building.
"It's already in writing," said Elturk, who was born in Lebanon and moved to Detroit in 1976. "It's
a condition, and we all understand if we violate the condition we can lose the building."
"The sentiments were not only racial and discriminatory but the decision was premeditated,"
Elturk added. "We feel we have been discriminated against."
Elturk, 50, spent Tuesday and Wednesday mulling his options and has begun to talk with
lawyers.
Dawud Walid, executive director for the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, said he was aware Elturk was trying to locate his headquarters in Warren. He said he
wasn't surprised Elturk was turned down.
"We are aware that in the past with the City of Warren, there has been racial tension there,"
Walid said. "We're not going to jump to any conclusions that there was some type of blatant
Islam-o-phobia."
Denny Strecker, who works as chief instructor at Karate and Fitness Center just north of Elturk's
building, said Wednesday he wouldn't have a problem with the proposed mosque. He said he
thought it would bring more people near his business.
"Any type of walking traffic is a benefit," Strecker said.
Casmere also said he felt the site's 87 parking spaces weren't enough to accommodate the
traffic the worship center would attract.
"We're saying that's the wrong location," Casmere said. "We were concerned that he would
outgrow his facility in a matter of months."
Contact DAN CORTEZ at 586-469-1827 or cortez@freepress.com.
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IONA's objective is to help the Muslims of North America understand and fulfill their divinely ordained obligations, in order to please Allah (SWT) and thereby achieve success and salvation in the Hereafter.
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