Your recent editorial on the plans to build a mosque in Ames requires a response, because you charged the neighborhood, where the mosque is proposed, with gross intolerance.

You also asked if the Protestants wished to build a church on the site, would the neighbors respond similarly? I can guarantee you that the neighborhood’s response would be the same, even if the proposal would have been a branch library.

What you don’t understand is that this neighborhood is already the victim of poor planning by another entity in its environs. On nearby Hyland Avenue, the Unitarians have grown from a membership of 30 in 1970 to 300 in 1997, accompanied by serious parking problems.

This situation has resulted from locating a building on a site with an inadequate lot for expanding membership and the city deciding to end parking on Hyland Ave.

Having experienced poor planning on the part of the city and the Unitarians, the neighborhood is of course concerned that a similar situation could arise with another entity, religious or not, being placed in its midst with no space for expansion. The opposition has nothing to do with it being a mosque — Ames needs one. The question here is: Where is the planning regarding immediate impact and future growth?

Consider the following possibilities regarding this specific case and perhaps you will see why the neighborhood is concerned about potential impact.

The Muslim faith is a rich, dynamic, growing religion; thus, one can reasonably assume that the membership, now estimated between 80 to 100, will grow. The proposed structure is 6,000 square feet, more than adequate for 80 to 100 members. All religions wish to grow; few see themselves as static.

There are “more than a thousand Muslims in Ames,” according to the president of the Muslim Student Association at Iowa State (Daily Tribune, Jan. 29, 1997).

Many of the Muslims are students who now participate in the Friday noon prayer in the Memorial Union and may continue to do so, but there is potential for rapid growth in attendance at a new mosque situated so close to campus.

The ISU Muslim student adviser said “the Muslim students are pleased and looking forward to the new building” (ISU Daily, Oct. 28, 1997). Why wouldn’t a large number participate in Friday noon prayer at a new mosque?

The proposed mosque is a beautiful building, judging from the watercolor rendering. Why wouldn’t it attract all Muslims in Ames?

There is a very real possibility of Ontario Ave. being closed to parking within five years (never mind the recently rejected bike proposal), forcing all parking onto other streets.

The present plans for the mosque include only 43 parking places. Where would a large number of attendees park?

One possible scenario from above is that one could anticipate, almost from the date of completion, perhaps 250 cars needing to be parked at midday on any given Friday. Has anyone considered this possibility? Again, the Unitarian experience comes to mind.

The neighborhood assumed that these issues and others (covered under Ordinance 29.9(5) of the City Code) would be addressed at the Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing last June, but they were not. Since the neighborhood felt the criteria in 29.9(5) were not part of the decision and legally should have been, it was forced to go to court.

That is where the situation is at present. If the criteria and all other city regulations have been met, then, as you put it, “so be it.”

You should also realize that the three-lot subdivision referred to in your editorial is nothing but a ruse (and all parties admit to this) to get around 29.9(5). And if approved, the neighborhood may be denied its day in court, an infringement of its 14th Amendment right.

Personally, I have not seen evidence that any long-range planning has been done regarding this proposal. All I am asking is that all criteria and regulations be examined before it is too late. The issue is not intolerance, it is planning, plain and simple!

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Adrian Bennett

Professor

Department of History