Shortly after the much-anticipated public hearing for McLean Islamic Center (MIC) began on Wednesday Oct. 3, the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) decided to postpone the hearing to Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018.
The hearing, originally scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in the Fairfax Government Center Building, was moved to the last slot on the agenda and commenced shortly after 12 noon. BZA made the decision to postpone the hearing based on concerns that they were not comfortable moving forward until they had the time to review remarks from the VA Department of Transportation as well as an already submitted noise analysis. The BZA also cited a letter from The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), submitted independently of MIC, which left them feeling reluctant to hold the hearing as scheduled because it mentioned a federal religious land use law that protects houses of worship from burdensome conditions.
The purpose of the hearing with the BZA was to get approval for their application, requesting modifications to the permit conditions. MIC was first granted a permit to operate as a place of worship in July 2015 after purchasing the Baptist church in Tysons Corner, adjacent to the intersection of Route 7/Dulles Toll Road. The permit granted them the right to continue using the building as a place of worship, despite imposing a number of burdensome conditions on them. MIC agreed to these conditions at the time because the seller of the property could not wait any longer and they feared losing the property altogether.
Some of the permit conditions include: no group worship activities from 4-7p.m., which means no Asr or Maghrib congregational prayer, a maximum of 10 worshippers for Fajr prayer, and a closing time of 10:30 p.m, making it difficult to offer Taraweeh prayer in Ramadan or Isha prayer in the summer months when it starts later.
Earlier this year, an anonymous complaint made to the county resulted in MIC suspending Fajr prayer and appealing to the county to amend the conditions. The caller stated that more than 10 vehicles were present in the masjid parking lot at Fajr time, which indicated that more than 10 people were praying there since overnight parking is prohibited on the premise.
MIC, as it stands currently, is not functional for the worshippers who simply want to attend congregational prayers. The stipulations on four out of the five required daily prayers at the masjid render the masjid impractical as a place of worship and is leaving many members of the MIC congregation feeling helpless.
Mustafa Zaghal, CPA and resident of the Mclean community, is a member of MIC. He is one of several people who came to hearing in support of amending the MIC permit. He hopes that the BZA will make a fair decision that will reflect the democracy and freedoms applicable to all Americans. Zaghal says he “would like to see the Fajr prayer reinstated with no limitations on the number of people who can attend and that the worship during various special events, such as the nights of Ramadan, will not [have to] end by a certain hour.”
Dr. Sultan Chaudhry, a local dentist and President of MIC, says the large number of MIC supporters that came to the Oct. 3 hearing warmed his heart. When asked about his hopes for the future hearing Chaudhry said he “hopes that there will be a favorable outcome that will remove the burdensome conditions that prevent MIC members from exercising their freedom of religion.”
In addition to the burdensome restrictions that MIC hopes to amend is another complication from the Carrington neighborhood surrounding the masjid. Craig Blakeley, one of the attorneys for the Carrington Community Association, has expressed concerns about the traffic and noise that the masjid brings. Neighbors fear that having a masjid within close proximity will have an adverse effect on the traffic and bring in a surplus of noise.
Chaudhry believes that the decision to postpone the Oct. 3 hearing is a minor setback, but is confident that the review of the traffic and noise analysis will show that there is no substantial impact from MIC, thus leading to a favorable outcome in the future hearing. Chaudhry says “MIC is very cognizant of disturbances to the neighborhood,” and claims that they have taken extra precautionary measures by hiring private security and police personal for Jummah prayer services to prevent people from parking in the neighborhood or the street directly in front of the masjid. The masjid has succeeded at doing so with no citations issued from the county, despite the fact that there are no parking restrictions on any of the adjacent neighborhood roads.
Many attendees and supporters of MIC were disappointed in the postponement of the hearing. A delay in the decision only means more missed opportunities for congregational prayers at the masjid. One member of MIC even stood up as the hearing was coming to an end and asked the BZA if the Fajr prayer could be reinstated for the MIC members until a decision is made at the next hearing. That request was rejected.
Others perceived the hearing deferment as an advantage to MIC. Allison Carpenter, secretary on the MIC board of directors, agreed to the decision to postpone to a day when the board feels better prepared to make a decision. Carpenter says “in order to be heard fully in our petition and request amendments to our land use, we decided to defer our hearing to a future date to increase our chances of success.” She hopes that before the hearing on November 14th the BZA staff will have reviewed everything they need to, and that VDOT will have gotten back to them about the traffic study, which she fully expects to be approved and validated.
Gadeir Abbas, Senior Litigation attorney at CAIR was also present at the hearing and agrees with the decision to postpone. Abbas says “it’s important that the board of zoning appeals makes certain that its decision is based on the facts in this case, so if they need extra time to make sure that happens then I support that.”
Although they may not share all the same views, members of MIC and the Carrington community both agree that an amicable outcome that works for everyone is best. The neighbors say they would like to see the masjid succeed and MIC members hope to live in harmony with their neighbors for many years to come.
Chaudhry hopes to have the backing of many MIC members and supporters in the tri-state region at the next hearing on Nov. 14.
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