BERNARDS — The township Planning Board has given the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge a second opportunity to submit a revised plan to build a mosque in Liberty Corner, the attorney for the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge confirmed Wednesday.
Attorney Adeel A. Mangi said his group learned Wednesday morning that the Planning Board voted Tuesday on a resolution giving the society 90 days to file a revised site plan that would address the concerns the board voiced when it denied the application for the mosque on Dec. 8.
"We haven't seen a copy of the resolution, so we're not in a position to comment on it," Mangi said.
A rendering of the proposed mosque that Bernards Township denied. (Courtesy of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler)
Under state land use law, the society had 20 days to file a revised site plan after the final denial of the application was made official on Jan. 19. The group decided not to act during the time. Instead, it used a 45-day window to file alawsuit in federal court on March 10.
The lawsuit, which documented a process that spanned four years and included 39 public hearings, charged that members of the Planning Board repeatedly agreed with "one unreasonable and picayune land use objection after another" raised by those who appeared at hearings before ultimately denying the application.
Six days later, the U.S Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigationinto the matter.
Bernards Mayor Carol Bianchi, who has been supportive of the board's decision, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the board's decision to allow the society to resubmit a revised plan.
The federal investigation comes days after a local Islamic Society sued over denial of the mosque.
Mangi declined to comment when asked if the apparent good-faith gesture by the planning board will affect the pending lawsuit against the township.
According to the lawsuit, the Township Committee amended the zoning ordinance to make new houses of worship difficult, if not impossible, to build, reclassifying them from being a "permitted use" on residential land to a more stringent "conditional" use.
The Bernardsville News, which reported the board voted 5-0 Tuesday to adopt the resolution allowing the society to submit a revised plan, stated that although the society property on Church Street is zoned for residential use, the Islamic Society's proposal was filed prior to the change in zoning and will still be treated as "permitted use."
In rejecting the proposed mosque, the board cited a lack of details regarding parking, traffic safety and buffer zones bordering the site's residential neighbors, according to the lawsuit.
The society sought to build the mosque on a 4.3-acre tract in an area where houses of worship are permitted uses, the lawsuit says. It was proposed to be 4,252-square-feet in size for up to 142 worshipers. There were to be 107 parking spaces.
The society has spent more than $450,000 to get approval of its site plan, according to the lawsuit.
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