Walkersville, MD

In August 2008, the city government of Walkersville, Maryland, rejected a request for a special exception by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC) to build a religious center on a portion of a 224-acre farm in the agricultural zoning district. The project included a mosque for about 200 people, auxiliary facilities, and space for tents to host up to 10,000 participants for an annual three-day convention. The town also enacted an amendment to its zoning ordinance, introduced after AMC’s purchase plans had become public, blocking places of worship in the agricultural zoning district, even by special exception.

Florian Pohl

2007

The AMC intended to use the Moxley Farm as a place of worship and residence for its imam, as well as to hold an annual three-day religious event called the Jalsa Salana.

The city rejected the proposal, and the Muslim community withdrew from the contract to buy the 224-acre property. The landowner sued the city under RLUIPA. The city settled the lawsuit agreeing to buy the property for $4.7 million.