Modified Muslim center plan targets criticisms

Stipulations designed to accommodate the qualms of residents near a proposed Muslim center in unincorporated DuPage County just east of Naperville were put in black and white for a special meeting Thursday, but neighbors still left with some of their questions remaining unanswered.

A dozen conditions were spelled out by the county's Development Committee after its members agreed last month to recommend granting a permit for the Irshad Learning Center, which would go on the north side of 75th Street east of Naper Boulevard.

Among the adjustments shown in revised plans presented by the applicants and their attorney is an increase in parking, from 27 to 39 spaces, deemed necessary to allow enough room for the maximum of 100 worshippers at a time. The new renderings also show three-foot berms flanking the three-acre parcel, formerly the site of a small preschool, plus a row of evergreens on the west side designed to shield the view of the center and the glare of headlights from the homes on Hunter Circle. The revisions also call for moving part or all of the existing septic field that lies between those houses and the existing building near the south end of the lot.

That aspect of the project, as well as how to arrange for emergency vehicles to access the site and other stipulations in the county code, will wait for determination by their respective county oversight agencies if the County Board approves the plan at its meeting Tuesday evening. County staff members assured neighbors who came out Thursday to see the revised plans that no occupancy permits would be granted until all of the conditions have been met.

The conditions laid out by the committee reiterated the 100-worshipper cap and the 10:30 p.m. cutoff time for activities held at the site that were proposed in the application. Some neighbors had asserted that the facility would host events as late as 3 a.m. on certain days of the year, saying they had documented that at other Irshad sites in the Chicago region.

Naperville attorney Scott Day, who represents the Irshad board and trustees, had cried foul on the presumption that the new site would do the same, alleging that the county's Zoning Board of Appeals denied his clients due process when it twice rejected the application. The Development Committee did exactly the opposite, approving the request unanimously on Oct. 20.

Day emphasized Thursday that the parameters spelled out by the committee will become law with the board's approval.

"This list of conditions becomes sort of the rules of use for this property," he said.

The applicants, Day said, heard "loud and clear" that the residents objected to the possibility of a second parking lot that would have placed a connecting driveway near their homes, skirting the septic field. The Development Committee's members said they would not support a new parking lot behind the building.

Some of the neighbors voiced concerns about buffering the rear of the lot as well, and one pointed out that those who were unable to attend Thursday's session might reasonably ask for more time to look over the updated proposal, seeking another delay in a decision by the County Board. The board tabled the matter last week, agreeing to provide more time for the plan revisions.

Neighbor Peter Poteres, who lives on Hunter Circle, expressed lingering doubts about the plan.

"It seems to me everything's jammed up against our property," said Poteres, who is concerned that the downward slope of the lot and the relocation of the drainage field could bring flooding problems.

Day insisted that county regulations make that highly unlikely.

"I can tell you the county's done a masterful job -- they are one of the leaders in the state -- at stormwater management," he said.

Poteres also wondered whether the open-ended time restrictions would leave the door open to worship in the dead of night, so the Irshad representatives agreed to add another condition restricting them from worshipping earlier than 6 a.m., although Irshad representative Ali Ghane said the organization has never conducted services in the wee hours of the morning.

The additional rule somewhat riled Irshad trustee Mahmood Ghassemi, however.

"I believe this is a burden on us," said Ghassemi, pointing out that similar limitations are not placed on other churches. "Why have we been singled out, as if our activity should be restricted?"

Despite the county officials' reassurances, the neighbors weren't entirely put at ease over the proposed center.

"I'm 49 years old," Poteres said. "I've seen a lot of things that were supposed to happen, and didn't."