By Nick Buglione
Citing mostly traffic and parking concerns, more than 200 angry locals gathered to argue against the proposal at the Council of East Meadow Community Organization's Nov. 26 meeting, at which representatives of the Muslim Society made a presentation.
"The businesses and other people in this community can't be accommodated already," said John Pfeifer, who has lived on Bernard Street, off East Meadow Avenue, for four years. "There are sirens going off all hours of the night because of the accidents. This is not about religion, it's about parking and the quality of my life."
While ethnic slurs and anti-Muslim sentiment were kept to a minimum, religion clearly was the issue for some in attendance.
"My husband is a fireman and he had to lose all his friends because of these people," yelled one woman.
The Long Island Muslim Society, of which roughly 40 families are members, has been holding religious observances and recreational activities in the two houses at 469 and 477 East Meadow Ave. since 1993. The society now wants to combine the separate structures into one house of worship, which, in addition to prayer services, would also hold religion education classes for 50 to 60 children once a week.
"We want to build a house of worship over there to promote our religion to our children," said Mohammed Rafiqur Rahman, chairman of the society's board of directors. "We need this place to educate our children and keep our culture alive."
Construction plans, however, include only eight parking spots, well shy of the 87 required by the Town of Hempstead Building Department for the project.
Since it can't provide sufficient on-site parking, the society has applied for a variance with the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals. The variance application will go before the board Jan. 29.
"When you can't comply with the code requirements, you can bring an appeal of the Building Department's decision before the Board of Zoning Appeals, and that's the stage we're at," said Peter Morra, an attorney representing the society.
The society maintains that despite its potential to hold 300 congregants, the mosque won't have more than 10 or 15 people in attendance on a daily basis, said Rahman.
"Once or twice a year, we might have 100 people there," he said, adding that it would accommodate Muslims from the East Meadow, Merrick, Bellmore and Levittown areas. "I'm saying this in front of everyone, and you can take it as my word."
Residents in attendance, however, were skeptical. "I object to a two-story building right next to my kitchen," said Kathy Peranzo, who lives near the proposed construction site.
Considering that section of East Meadow Avenue's high concentration of businesses and houses of worship, she and others worried that the new mosque would only further tie up traffic and street parking. As it is, Peranzo said, she has to put a cone in front of her house to ensure that no one parks there.
According to Morra, the Muslim Society plans to hire an expert to conduct a traffic study to determine how the new building would impact the area.
The fact that the mosque would be tax-exempt, as are all religious institutions, also didn't sit well with residents. "Why here? Why not on Hempstead Turnpike or Hicksville Road?" said Kathy Volpe. "This is a small town, and we're getting killed with taxes. We do not have the room, and we do not want to eat any more taxes."
In light of the staunch opposition, Rahman said the society is willing to reconsider its proposal. "If the neighbors are not happy, we will scale it down," he said. "We get the idea, and definitely we're going to think about it."
If the variance is approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals, construction would take 10 to 12 months.
