Judge Sides With New York Village Against Mosque Group Claiming Discrimination

From The Times Herald-Record (New York) and Alliance Defense Fund:

Judge sides with village against mosqueGroup had claimed discrimination








The Islamic Cultural Center of Monticello has lost its fight with village officials in a lawsuit charging religious discrimination.

VICTOR WHITMAN/Times Herald-Record

By Victor Whitman

Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 11/30/10

MONTICELLO — A mosque in the heart of Monticello has not been the target of religious discrimination in a long-simmering dispute with village officials, a judge says.



Judge Frank LaBuda recently ruled against the Islamic Cultural Center of Monticello, which had sued Village Manager John Barbarite and the Planning Board in state Supreme Court last spring. The mosque had obtained a temporary restraining order and was asking the judge to grant a permanent certificate of occupancy and prevent the village from further interference.



The mosque claimed overzealous officials were quibbling over minor details in granting final approval and extracted more than $10,000 in fees in a three-year process through the Planning Board. One of the leaders had purchased a home on Cottage Street in 2004 and renovated it for a mosque and community center; members have held services there for several years.



Essentially, the argument had boiled down to where the mosque could build a parking lot. Mosque members wanted to build it across the street, while the village Planning Board had approved a lot behind the building.



The mosque's leader, Ibrahim Makovic, a well-known homebuilder, claimed that Barbarite had a personal vendetta against his group.



"The Court has reviewed the record with Mr. Makovic's allegation of religious discrimination," LaBuda wrote. "On this record, there certainly is not evidence of religious discrimination; rather the record speaks to a community and a local government endeavoring to accommodate the need for a house of worship for the local Islamic Community."



LaBuda noted that the village had twice granted a special-use permit and a conditional certificate of occupancy that allowed members to use the mosque while complying with the final conditions. The village was requiring the mosque to consolidate three land parcels and do some landscaping, including landscaping the lot across the street to prevent people from parking on it.



LaBuda called the village's requirements "rationally based and reasonably related to the public's health, safety and welfare."



Barbarite called the lawsuit "frivolous," but when all the legal fees are counted, they wind up costing more than $4,000.



The attorney for the mosque, Gerald Orseck, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.



vwhitman@th-record.com