By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
Weeks after village trustees said no to a proposed Islamic Community Center, residents approached board members to express their displeasure with the decision.
On Sept. 11, about a dozen community members showed up to the Committee of the Whole meeting at Village Hall, to let trustees know they were disappointed that they denied local Muslims the opportunity to worship at a building along Illinois Route 126.
On Aug. 21, the Plainfield Community Center, a 10-year established religious organization in Plainfield, was denied their petition for a special use permit for religious assembly by a rare tie vote of the village board. The group is looking to expand at the property at 23616 W. Main St. (Route 126), the former home of a Christian church and Montessori school. The group wants to utilize the building – which they purchased last spring for $580,000 – for religious assembly, organized prayer and worship, and community development. The religious assembly would include daily call to prayer, which occurs five times each day.
The 2,800 square-foot building sits on 2.2 acres in a residential area along Main and Ash streets.
The site has been used for religious assembly or education for the past 42 years.
The denial left some community members angry.
“I am really disappointed that another religious organization is going through this difficult time,” Reverend Eun-Hye Choi, pastor at Plainfield United Methodist Church, told members of the board. “It’s not just a difficult time, it’s plain discrimination… I cannot believe this, that my town, Plainfield, does this.”
Residents said they were left shocked that the village turned away a religious organization.
“I was very disappointed in the vote that denied the permit to the Islamic foundation,” said resident and UMC member Holly Long. “It was clear that the representatives from the proposed community center had done everything that was requested of them, and had even gone above and beyond. They told us after the meeting that they came to the board before purchasing the land, and I feel that he board has now put them in an extremely difficult position of now owning land that they cannot use… I’m afraid that the board has sent a very unwelcoming message to a minority population in Plainfield.”
Others said they wanted to see the village reconsider the application, in the spirit of inclusion.
“I am a resident that believes in complete diversity and inclusion and would really like to see them embraced,” said Plainfield resident Karen Farris.
But those against the community center said their objection has nothing to do with religious discrimination. A handful of protestors waited outside Village Hall, holding signs asking trustees to vote no against the center. According to those protestors, their concerns are solely on possible additional traffic the center could bring to Route 126, an already congested thoroughfare.
“We don’t want any more traffic,” one protestor said. “It has nothing to do with Muslims. We just don’t want the traffic.”
The protestors said they’d like to see the community center find another property, one along a less crowded stretch of road.
Trustee Cally Larson, the only no vote last month to explain her vote, also noted that her Number One concern about the community center was additional traffic. Larson said at that time that she personally had been stuck in traffic along 126 for 30 minutes or more during rush hour.
The issue is expected to come back to the board of trustees on Sept. 18 for reconsideration.
Meanwhile, the members of the Plainfield Community Center are holding an Open House for the public to learn about their center and their proposed expansion.
The open house is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, from 1 to 3 p.m. at St. Mary Immaculate church.
Members of the community center said they have not ruled out legal action if the village stands in the way of their right to religious assembly.