Even though a California city will be allowing a local Muslim community to build a mosque — despite protests from concerned citizens — a local pastor is holding out hope it won’t be built next to his church.
Around 3:00 a.m. Wednesday, after several hours of deliberation, the Temecula City Council voted 4-0 to reject an appeal challenging the planning commission’s decision to give a permit and development approval to the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley. Hundreds of supporters and protestors gathered at city hall to voice their concern for the proposed 25,000-square-foot Islamic mosque. The city approved the plan in December, and Temecula city planners pressured the council to reject an appeal to the project.
Bill Rench, pastor of neighboring Calvary Baptist Church, admits he was not surprised at the council’s decision. “We were aware that the council had indicated that unless there were compelling reasons for them to do otherwise, they were probably going to deny the appeal anyway,” he remarks (see earlier story).
In order to build, the approval must pass conditions set by the city — one being a study of the property that would require thousands of dollars. Rench explains that the mosque still may not be built because the property sits on a floodplain. The front portion of that property, he points out, is the only flat part.
“We’re hopeful that they’ll recognize the difficulty of that circumstance and choose to take a position that they find 10 or 15 acres [elsewhere] more suitable to their purposes,” says the pastor.
The mosque, which would serve approximately 150 Muslim families in the area, has been at the center of a heated debate between those who fear the center will promote radical Islam and attract Muslims from all over the region who have a political agenda — and those who contend that the mosque will not encourage terrorism.
(Source: OneNewsNow)