In 2012, Pittsfield Township rejected MIA’s request to build a new school on twenty-seven acres on Ellsworth Rd. With help from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the group sued. It looked like the township might win a technical victory last year, when the judge ruled the school lacked legal standing because the property was not owned by the school but by supporters. But then the U.S. Department of Justice filed its own suit under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
RLUIPA (pronounced ruh LOOP a) limits local governments’ power to block building projects by religious groups.To settle the school’s suit, says CAIR attorney Lena Masri, Pittsfield agreed to “a $1.7 million judgment, in addition to the right to build schools, a residential development, a park, and other amenities.” The federal settlement “requires Pittsfield to post that they now treat all religious institutions on equal terms and [commit] to the training of officials and staff regarding RLUIPA.”
MIA board president Tarek Nahlawi says his group settled “for the benefit of everybody. We can continue to fight in the court, but it had to come to a conclusion.” Township supervisor Mandy Grewal and township attorney Jim Fink email that they settled “because our insurance company recommended settlement and the insurance company was responsible for paying any settlement proceeds and legal fees. From the insurance company’s perspective, there was no end in sight to the litigation once the DOJ became involved.
“The MIA case was nearly done,” Grewal and Fink write. “The Judge was going to rule on all motions, and if need be, we would have gone to trial. For reasons only they can provide, the DOJ chose to file on the very last day before the statute of limitations ran, and the DOJ has unlimited resources to spend on litigation whereas Pittsfield taxpayers do not.”
So they folded. While continuing, in Grewal and Fink’s words, to “deny any wrongdoing, discrimination or violation of law,” the township will allow MIA to build a 70,000-square-foot school. That’s nearly three times its current 25,000-square-foot school on Plymouth Rd.–and 10,000 feet bigger than the building Pittsfield rejected in 2012.
“We’ll have the same schools, elementary, middle, and high,” says Nahlawi. “but the new school will be equipped with the proper equipment, like a science lab and a computer lab.” And the settlement will cover about 20 percent of the cost.
The current school has 230 students and forty teachers, and Nahlawi doesn’t see it growing much at first. “By the time we start [at the new site] in three years, it will be in the 260 to 270 range and hopefully grow by 5 percent on an annual basis. We don’t expect to reach 500–maybe 300 in ten years. There are only so many Muslims in the area.”
The settlement also goes beyond the 2012 plan by permitting some housing–twenty-two duplex units and three single-family homes. Nonetheless, the township says it got what it wanted most out of the deal. “This settlement allows Pittsfield to control the outcome of development on the site,” write Grewal and Fink. “Traffic safety and congestion in the heart of a single-family residential subdivision were our foremost concerns, which have been addressed in the settlement by disallowing any north-south movement on Golfside Road.” In addition they got “significant [landscape] buffering between existing residents and the proposed project and a much lower usage density on the site” by spelling out everything that can be built there.
Grewal and Fink also note that township “taxpayers are not contributing to the settlement; 100 percent is being paid by the township’s insurer.” Does this mean insurance rates will go up? “If anything, our insurance rates may go down with this case being over,” they respond.
CAIR attorney Masri says she and the academy “hope that the outcome sends a strong message nationwide to other municipalities that the Muslim community is facing significant and widespread opposition to schools, community centers and even playgrounds, and we need to stand up for our rights!”
Nahlawi says it’s tough being Muslim in America now. “There is some polarization because of the elections, but things will settle down after the election–I hope. The people of this country are good people, and people here need to know that these students are Americans. They were born here, they believe in the constitution, and they will defend this country.”
As a resident of Pittsfield township, I find it very difficult to believe that there was any intent to discriminate vs. the Muslim community. It’s unfortunate that the township caved to what appears to be intimidation by an organization (CAIR) that has been reported to be associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and a Justice Department which of late has become more known for its support of lawlessness than Justice. If the township cannot enforce local zoning laws without interference from Washington DC, what’s next? Will the township be further intimidated if it attempts to enforce building codes? Or safety rules during construction? If some think it’s tough being a Muslim these days, as they march indignantly toward the bank, just imagine what it must feel like if you are the little sisters of the poor. These days.