https://usmc.oxomeka.org/files/original/6249f0368c74ed42607be16e5e03897e.jpg d9ae4c74651cc4515a711d130b21b62d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Florida Case Use this Item Type to create the case Item Pages for the U.S. Mosque Controversies site. Case Number Enter the case number in this field using the format: Case No. XX_00 (e.g. Case No. Ga_01) Case No. Fl_08 Location The location of the interview Orange County, FL Date February-April 2018 Summary Enter a brief description of the case (no more than 600 characters). This should be one or two sentences. The Aisha Cultural Centers seeks to convert a landscaping warehouse into a community center to provide youth programs and social services. Planning staff recommends approval, but the county’s Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA) votes to deny the center’s application for a special exception because of concern over a petition signed by residents in opposition to the planned center. The Board of County Commissioners does not follow the BZA’s recommendation and votes unanimously to approve the center’s application. Commissioners note that the opposition includes many members of the public not residing in the vicinity of the proposed site and that concerns over additional traffic and noise had been addressed. Address Enter the full address, if it is available. 1311 Hancock Lone Palm Rd, Orlando, FL 32828 Proposed Project The Aisha Cultural Center seeks to convert a landscaping warehouse into a community center to provide youth programs and social services. Although the zoning allows for religious land use, a special exception is required because the county’s future land use designation is not consistent with the underlying zoning. Proposed By List the entity (legal entity or community name) that proposed the project. <a href="http://aishacenter.com/">Aisha Cultural Center</a> Type of Opposition Public Campaign, Vandalism, Legal Action, Local Ordinance public campaign; administrative denial [initial] Outcome Rejected, Approved, Approved with Modifications The Board of County Commissioners does not follow the BZA’s recommendation for denial but instead votes unanimously to approve the application with eleven conditions that had been recommended by planning staff. The project is in the first phase of construction. Narrative Enter the narrative about the case here. The Islamic nonprofit Aisha Cultural Center Inc. (ACC) has been offering religious, educational, and social activities to the East Orlando Muslim community at its location on South Alafaya Trail since 2014. In 2017, it purchased a former landscaping warehouse on the east side of Orange County to expand services such as youth programs and college prep tutoring. ACC applied for a special exception to allow a religious facility with ancillary uses, including worshipping, social services, evening gatherings, and SAT programs. The application also included a request for a variance to allow unpaved overflow parking. Although the property was zoned agricultural (A-2, farmland rural district), which allowed for religious land use, a special exception was required because the county’s future land use designation (low-medium density residential) was not consistent with the underlying A-2 zoning. Upon receiving ACC’s application, county planning staff sent out 85 notifications to residents in a 600-ft radius of the property for a community meeting on January 10, 2017, to explain the proposed project and answer questions. No members of the public attended the meeting. The Aisha Cultural Center’s application for a special exception was placed on the agenda for a regularly scheduled meeting of Orange County’s Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) on February 1, 2018. Meeting all code criteria, the proposal came to the BZA with a staff recommendation for approval. The attorney for ACC, Tara Tedrow, presented the proposal highlighting, among others, that Orange County Transportation Planning had determined the project would produce de minimis traffic impacts. Furthermore, previously, two other religious communities in the vicinity of the proposed site had been granted a special exception for their religious facilities. During the public comment section, no member of the public spoke up in support of the project. Opposition was represented foremost by Michael Johnson, to whom several other speakers yielded their time. Johnson was given six minutes to address the BZA. (Johnson stated he lived about six miles from the proposed site. However, the address he provided as his residence places him at least 22 miles from the site, according to GoogleMaps.) Before the meeting, the BZA had received 30 to 40 letters expressing opposition to the development. Johnson presented additional petitions to the BZA. Most of the concerns expressed on the petitions were related to the expectation of extra traffic and noise. At least one of the letters expressed Islamophobic sentiments reading, "Keep terrorism out – No to this political system. I don't want the troubles Europe has." The BZA determined that about 40 petitions had come from residents near the proposed site. Johnson also raised concern that the fundraising page on the ACC’s website had included references to additional plans such as a soccer field not included in the official application for the special exception. Concerns about alleged omissions were repeated in a subsequent presentation by Allen Korman, who indicated that he had worked with Johnson to collect the petitions from residents. Korman, who stated he lived about 8.5 miles from the subject property, charged that ACC had omitted activities such as communal Friday prayers and activities by the Aisha School that would lead to occupancy at the proposed site beyond the submitted capacity. ACC’s legal counsel Tedrow responded to comments clarifying that the proposed community center was a low-use facility to provide social and educational services. It would operate separately from the ACC’s property on Alafaya Trail, pictures of which had been shown in the presentations by Johnson and Korman. Tedrow specified further that ACC had worked with county staff and followed their advice when preparing a site plan that was consistent with the surrounding community's character and low-intensity development plans. In their subsequent deliberations, the BZA members expressed low concern over the impact on traffic and noise. Members also voiced that they were surprised by the interest and involvement of residents from outside the immediate vicinity. The unanimous vote to recommend denial of the application acknowledged that about 40 of the petitions in opposition to the project seemed to originate with residents who the project could directly impact. The Board of County Commissioners did not follow the BZA’s recommendation of denial but instead voted unanimously to approve the application for a special exception at its regular meeting on April 10, 2018. Information presented in support of the application included an additional traffic study ACC had performed on March 23. The survey result confirmed the de minimis traffic impacts found by Orange County Transportation Planning. The public comment period lasted about 60 minutes. During that period some of the speakers who had signed up to speak against the project ceded their time to Michael Johnson. Opponents cited arguments made earlier at the BZA meeting over traffic and noise. Different from the previous BZA meeting, however, the public comment section also included statements of support from several community members in attendance. Commissioners acknowledged that the project was consistent with county regulations and that the additional traffic study had eased any concern over adverse traffic impacts on the surrounding community. Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacob expressed surprise that many of the opponents did not live near the proposed site. “I can’t recall when all but one person who was opposed were from outside the area and many were from outside of the county,” the mayor said during deliberations. The BCC voted unanimously to approve the application with eleven conditions recommended by the planning staff. They added that the county’s traffic division would reassess traffic conditions every other year to make appropriate recommendations on whether traffic control would be required for future events at the site. The involvement of members of the public opposing the project even though they did not live close to the proposed site was a recurring matter of concern during the deliberations over ACC’s application. In the only available news coverage of the county commission’s meeting on April 10, Channel 9 reported that four residents living close to the site had told reporters they either had not heard anything about the project or thought the petition seemed deceptive. One resident who had signed a petition is quoted stating, “I was just kind of stronghanded into signing a petition I didn’t really know anything about. Pretty much the minute I asked for more information, they kind of walked away” (Seaborn, 2108). A member of ACC who lived in the community close to the site was said to have experienced similarly misleading tactics when Johnson and a partner were canvassing the community around the site for signatures against the project. Johnson had a history of involvement in opposition to building projects by the Muslim community in Orange County. In 2016 he was part of the opposition against a mosque proposed in the town of Windermere (Kerr, 2016). The proposed site was more than 30 miles from his stated residence in Seminole County, FL. References Kerr, Z. (2016, March 31). Developers introduce plans for mosque. Windermere Observer (Winter Garden, FL), p. 5. Retrieved from <a href="https://infoweb-newsbank-com.proxy.library.emory.edu/apps/news/document-view?%20p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/15CAEC12B5DC6420.">https://infoweb-newsbank-com</a>. Seabrook, L. (2018, April 10). ‘Keep terrorists out’: Residents write to commissioners in response to new Islamic center. ABC-9 WFTV. Retrieved from<a href="https://www.wftv.com/news/local/keep-terrorists-out-residents-write-to-commissioners-in-response-to-new-islamic-center/730348902"> www.wftv.com</a>. Last Updated Date revised. June 10, 2021 Year Year the case began. 2018 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Orange County, FL Description An account of the resource In April 2018, the Orange County Board of Commissioners votes to grant the Aisha Cultural Center permission for a special exception to convert a landscaping warehouse into a community center. Despite the planning staff’s recommendation for approval, the county’s Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA) earlier had voted to deny the center’s request because of concern over a petition signed by residents in opposition to the planned center. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stewart Zelnick Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Oxford College of Emory University Approved Community Center Public Campaign Under Construction