In order to avoid a drawn-out legal battle that could delay the construction of the Cordoba Center mosque and community center in San Martin, the South Valley Islamic Community plans to withdraw its use permit for the project’s chosen site.
“But we’re not going anywhere,” SVIC spokesman Hamdy Abbass reiterated Friday morning.
The SVIC plans to submit another application for a similar, or possibly identical project at the same site – a 15-acre parcel just north of the intersection of Monterey Road and California Avenue, Abbass said. He did not know when the SVIC plans to submit the new application.
The SVIC’s decision to “voluntarily relinquish” the use permit, which was granted by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in September 2012, is in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of San Martin residents in December 2012.
The lawsuit was filed by the “People’s Coalition for Government Accountability” and alleges the County did not take a full account of the Cordoba Center proposal’s potential impact on the nearby environment in accordance with state and federal laws that regulate such impacts.
County staff conducted studies on the potential impact of the project before the supervisors approved it. Those studies found the SVIC’s proposal would have no significant negative impact on the environment, roads, utilities or surrounding neighborhood.
The SVIC and its attorneys spent “several months” trying to make a deal with the PCGA, but the group refused to give in on their stated demands, Abbass said. So, instead of being blocked by the PCGA’s “delay tactics,” the SVIC will withdraw its proposal, for now, on the advice of its attorneys.
“The decision (to withdraw the permit) effectively puts an end to that lawsuit, while enabling SVIC to pursue a variety of options to move the project forward more quickly,” said a press release from SVIC.
At the SVIC’s request, the Board of Supervisors will consider during its meeting Tuesday at the County Government Center in San Jose revoking the use permit it previously approved. County staff recommend revoking the use permit.
The Cordoba Center proposal approved by the County includes a 5,000-square-foot prayer hall, 2,800-square-foot multi-purpose hall, a two-acre cemetery and children’s play area.
The Supervisors’ approval in September of a use permit for the project at the proposed site followed a series of public hearings hosted by County planning staff and advisory boards in the summer of 2012. Several of those meetings drew dozens of residents from all over South County, many voicing emotional and sometimes angry public comments against or in support of the project.
The SVIC represents about 80 families from San Jose to Hollister and beyond, and the Cordoba Center project is meant to serve their prayer and worship needs. SVIC members have also said the site could be available for community use through rentals for the future community center and special events sponsored by the SVIC.
SVIC members have already been gathering for prayer and religious services at a privately owned barn in San Martin for about 20 years.
“Our members have lived and worked in this community for decades,” said SVIC President Kamila Kraba. “Our congregation is here to stay. We remain fully committed to our new mosque and community center, which will not only benefit our local congregation, but will also benefit the South County community at large through our charitable efforts and public use of the facilities.”
The addition of a Muslim cemetery at the San Martin site will be convenient to the SVIC, as the closest Muslim cemetery now is in Fremont, said former SVIC President Karen Musa. The closest mosque is Masjid Al Rasool in Campbell.
An e-mail sent to a PCGA member listed in the lawsuit, and a phone call to the group’s attorney were not immediately returned Friday morning.
The PCGA’s complaint describes its organization as “an unincorporated association formed in the public interest to promote open, fair, well-informed, and responsible land use planning in Santa Clara County.”
For its defense of the PCGA lawsuit, SVIC is represented pro bono by the law firm of Barg, Coffin, Lewis & Trapp, LLP, and the Stanford Law School Religious Liberty Clinic, according to the press release.
Barg Coffin, based in San Francisco, specializes in environmental law and litigation, according to the release. The Stanford Religious Liberty Clinic is “the only clinic of its kind in the country devoted entirely to litigating issues of religious freedom.”
“In a strange way, the PCGA’s lawsuit was a blessing for our community because it helped us assemble an expert legal team to advise us on how best to move forward and protect the rights of our community, while affirming that the project will have no negative impacts on the environment,” Musa said.
The SVIC’s withdrawal of the existing permit and re-applying for a similar or identical project at the same San Martin site might not prevent the PCGA from filing yet another lawsuit, but “it’s up to them,” Abbass said.
“We’re not going to give in to the delay and fear tactics this group is trying to put us through,” Abbass said.
The PCGA’s lawsuit, which also names the County, asked the court to void the Cordoba Center’s use permit, and to order more extensive environmental studies if the SVIC planned to resubmit the project.
When the five-member Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Cordoba Center’s use permit in September, it also rejected three public appeals to the project which would have either prohibited the mosque proposal or altered the SVIC’s submitted plans.
The project was approved with permit restrictions recommended by the County Planning Commission, including a daily attendance limit of 80 people, with a maximum of 150 four times a year for special events. The limit was imposed to minimize the facility’s impact on groundwater, septic system, traffic and other concerns, County staff said.
