Editorial: Offering mosque a welcoming space
Published on April 16, 2010 http://www.amherstbulletin.com/story/id/169943/
Editorial body copy:
When Hampshire County’s only mosque was seeking a new location outside of Amherst, Town Manager Larry Shaffer urged its leaders to stay in a town that is welcoming to all faiths and cultures. Unfortunately, the mosque has run up against some unwelcoming attitudes.
Members of the Muslim community are looking to buy a vacant L-shaped building and property at 264 Harkness Road. They would move their place of worship from cramped rented space in the Carriage Shops downtown to a rural, residential area on the eastern edge of town.
Harkness runs from Belchertown Road (Route 9) to Amherst Road in Pelham, with much of it forming the border between the two towns.
The three-acre property was once a poultry farm. It also served as a Christian alternative high school, and until recently was home to the Sunbow 5 Foundation for Planetary Healing Inc. While it is a distance away from the downtown, the price is right and the space meets their needs, say mosque leaders.
The first public discussion of the possible purchase came before the Amherst Planning Board last week and drew about 50 residents from Amherst and Pelham, most to oppose the mosque. Their main complaint is that having a house of worship on the road will increase traffic to a dangerous level. The hearing continues next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The issues before the Planning Board are limited: the layout of the property, parking arrangements and whether a traffic engineering report is needed. Traffic is always a concern, but in this case it seems that plain old NIMBYism is the greater force at work.
One resident at the hearing held up reflective vests to illustrate the existing risks to pedestrians. Another presented mathematical calculations that projected a big traffic increase. Will there be more cars on Harkness Road if the mosque moves in? Yes, but based on the size of the mosque membership and the description of the programs, Muslims coming for worship and educational programs are not going to generate a lot of additional traffic.
Mohammed ali Hazratji, president of the board for the Hampshire Mosque, said around 50 people will attend Friday services at 1 p.m. He expects two to five people for daily prayers, up to 10 people for night prayers, about 15 to 30 people for education and prayer sessions Wednesday evenings, and 38 children for religious classes on Sunday.
From Belchertown Road, the property is a half-mile north along a straight stretch of Harkness Road. It is a rural road; houses are set back from the road and from each other. There are no sidewalks, and if residents want them, they should petition Town Hall. If drivers speed on the road, the police should talk to them.
Some neighbors agree that the traffic concerns are specious. In a letter to the editor, long-time Harkness Road residents Stearns and Dorothy Morse write that traffic “at rush hour rarely exceeds one car per minute, and during the day many fewer than that.”
There may be building code issues that will derail the mosque’s plans. Barring that, Hazratji said the mosque will comply with rules and regulations, and he will work to secure the privacy of the nearest neighbors. Hazratji says, “We hope to make the mosque an asset to the neighborhood.”
At this point, there appears no reason why that should not be the case.
Amherst Bulletin | Editorial: Offering mosque a welcoming space
