Much-needed mosque marred by municipal red tape
Posted Aug 12, 2013 7:37 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The fate of a sorely needed mosque in the city’s southeast is now going to fall to city council.
Calgary’s Planning Committee refused a plan from the Islamic Centre of South Calgary for a $27.8-million facility to be built in the deep south.
According to their ruling, “allowing for an adhoc land use redesignation… could jeopardize the ability to realize efficient urban planning and preclude the consideration of alternate land use and development patterns for the area.”
Muslims had been hoping to build on a parcel of land that is far from developed at 16555 104th Street.
The plan is ambitious; the facility would need to be built in four phases to address their social, religious and educational needs.
It would include a house for the Imam, a community centre, an apartment building and elementary, junior and senior high schools.
“It will be available for anyone not just for Muslims – everyone can utilize the facility for functions, or use the gymnasium for exercise,” says President Arshad Farooq.
The proposal calls for the complex to be green and self-sufficient in terms of water, sanitary treatment and storm-water management.
“There’s no solid, sound reasoning why they can’t build there,” Alderman Shane Keating tells 660News. “Just that they’re not in an area structure plan and that’s the difficulty.”
According to the Ward 12 Alderman, the city has a policy to turn down any application where there isn’t a structure plan for that area in place.
Keating believes the plan should be approved and he’s hoping his colleagues will see the logic behind the Islamic Centre in the southeast.
He says the policy is just a guideline and in this case, it should be turned down.
“You can’t have one that will cover any scenario regardless,” Keating says. “In this case council needs to make a decision and say this policy shouldn’t apply.”
“The spot they’ve picked, it’s in the absolute right corner,” he explains. “It’s in a corner, besides two large roads and it’s not in the middle of a corner section that might impede roads… so now we just need the policy to fit.”
Council members must now decide whether they will overrule the planning committee and give the centre the go-ahead.
At this point, the congregation has swelled from 150 to 600 in just the last few years.
They’ve been forced to rent space in the area until they can find something more permanent.
The plan for the Islamic Centre of South Calgary has now been put on the agenda for September 9th.
