By John Dobberstein, Editor
The Islamic Society of Tulsa says it is exploring all its options, including legal action, over the city’s rejection of a proposed mosque and retail center in Broken Arrow.
The Broken Arrow City Council on Monday voted 4-1 to deny IST’s rezoning request and conditional use permit for the project, citing infrastructure concerns surrounding the 15-acre parcel owned by the North American Islamic Trust.
The decision came after the Broken Arrow Planning Commission recommended approval of the requests last month after a 4-hour public hearing, and city staff had also signaled approval for the proposal. The development site is on Olive Avenue, just south of the Creek Turnpike.
IST says the denial was “incomprehensible” because the City Council “ignored the scaled-down version” of the project presented during Monday’s hearing. The Society said both the earlier “aspirational” and scaled-down versions, “were developed through substantive meetings with the staff of the city of Broken Arrow.”
The organization announced it had begun fundraising for legal help, advocacy and other efforts, forming a GoFundMe with a $2 million goal, stating, “We are now working with civil rights and legal organizations to ensure our rights are protected and that we are treated fairly under the law, just like any other faith community.”
“We appreciate that participation in the democratic process sometimes leads to disagreement. We are also, however, disappointed that fearmongering and misinformation dominated the discourse around our proposal and that the Islamophobic frenzy on social media may have had an impact on the Council’s decision to deny our application,” IST said in a statement.
The city of Broken Arrow denied this narrative Thursday, saying staff didn’t learn about the smaller proposal until receiving an email from IST a couple of hours before Monday’s hearing, which was attended by more than 1,000 people.
City officials said they met with a delegation from IST, including the applicant’s engineer, for an hour on Jan. 8 and no scaled-down version or revised plan was discussed or presented to staff. The engineer brought up the idea of a planned unit development (PUD) for the property.
According to the city’s statement, staff advised the delegation that if it wanted to pursue a PUD, the review process would reset and the plan would have to be reviewed by the Planning Commission. The delegation decided against the option and advised staff it was proceeding as planned, the city says, and the rest of the meeting focused on logistics and safety measures for last Monday’s hearing.
“The City of Broken Arrow emphatically rejects IST’s supposition that ‘Islamophobic frenzy on social media’ factored into the City Council’s decision. That is simply not true,” the city’s statement says. “It is irresponsible conjecture stated by IST to satisfy its interpretation of the City Council’s decision.”
The city also pointed to a news release and video published Jan. 9 where Mayor Debra Wimpee said, “we look forward to seeing many of you there for what we hope is a professional, productive, and resolute conversation focused on the facts of the proposed development,” in reference to last Monday’s meeting.
“The Broken Arrow City Council was abundantly clear in its decision to deny the application request for a rezoning and conditional use permit. The application was not approved due to the infrastructure needs surrounding the property. While we do not comment on the potential of threatened litigation, we remain open to ongoing productive dialogue with IST about the decision.”
But IST says it plans to “reverse this myopic and discriminatory decision” through all avenues, including a challenge under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits government entities and municipalities from imposing discriminatory or substantially burdensome land use regulations on religious institutions.
“We are also considering complaints against the City of Broken Arrow with other relevant state and federal regulatory bodies which govern anti-discrimination in city zoning decisions.
“We sincerely hope that through further dialogue and advocacy, the City of Broken Arrow will not only reverse its decision but will take actions to combat the spread of Islamophobia and to welcome diverse residents into the community, ensuring that all residents are welcome in this beautiful city.”
The city says it recognizes the disappointment about the denial but notes its zoning and permitting processes are designed to be, “fair, transparent, and in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including those protecting religious freedoms. The City Council carefully considered the application, including input from the Planning Commission, City staff, and public comments, before reaching its decision based on the facts presented.”
Muslims from IST and throughout the metro area, as well as some local residents, spoke in favor of the mosque proposal, pointing to overcrowded conditions at the Society’s current mosque in Tulsa and the desire of Muslims in Broken Arrow to have a closer place to worship.
Numerous other speakers, however, urged the City Council to reject IST’s requests — either due to concern about Muslim cultural aspects being incompatible with their religious values, or potential infrastructure problems with the site itself, including traffic, nearby floodplain and environmental concerns, lack of city utilities and potential drainage problems along Olive. The land for the proposed mosque was purchased by IST in 2014 for $625,000 and deeded over to NAIT a few months later.
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