{"id":325590,"date":"2026-05-21T02:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/325590\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T02:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:48:13","slug":"town-attorney-finds-the-initial-conditions-for-mosque-were-discriminatory-los-gatan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/325590\/","title":{"rendered":"Town Attorney finds the initial conditions for mosque were discriminatory | Los Gatan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"two<\/a>HASHING IT OUT – Rob Stump (foreground, left) speaks with Jeffrey Barnett during an intermission at Planning Commission, May 13, after the two sparred over civil rights. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

If the West Valley Muslim Association<\/a> had proposed a by-right high-density housing development (and it could have)<\/a>\u2014instead of a slight extension of hours\u2014the build would\u2019ve already been approved by now.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, in California, certain housing projects receive an automatic green light if it takes the municipality more than five public meetings to take action.<\/p>\n

And May 13 was the fifth hearing on the Conditional Use Permit modification request<\/a> for the Los Gatos Islamic Center<\/a>. It came and went without a decision, once again.<\/p>\n

Instead of the current 10pm closing time, WVMA wants a 10:30pm operations cutoff, plus half an hour to vacate the premises (and 11:30pm, plus an extra half-hour for dispersal, during Ramadan<\/a>\u2014and not even that late when sunset is prior to 7:30pm).<\/p>\n

They are agreeing to be bound by new morning hours limitations (being allowed to start arriving 1.5 hours before sunrise\u2014so, about 5:50am this year, at the earliest).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a long, drawn-out process for our community,\u201d said WVMA<\/a> founder Razi Mohiuddin<\/a> after the Planning Commission item was continued, keeping his messaging upbeat. \u201cThe diligence on this is really commendable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"civicGALLERY \u2013 Los Gatos Planning Commission often features empty pews as land use matters are debated. Not so with the mosque hearings. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

Pleasant laughter could be heard amongst the Muslim attendees as they filed out, with the lack of definitive action from the Planning Commission beginning to verge on absurdity. Some had come from more than an hour away for what they\u2019d hoped would be last time.<\/p>\n

The item had been at the finish line, after a compromise at the last hearing resulted in a unanimous vote. Staff said the item could be finalized later via a simple \u201cconsent motion,\u201d meaning it wouldn\u2019t have to be debated again.<\/p>\n

That was until Town officials looked at several of the conditions placed on the mosque\u2019s CUP and decided they might be against a federal civil rights law called RLUIPA<\/a>, which protects freedom of religion.<\/p>\n

It states that the government is not allowed to treat one religion differently than another when it comes to land use matters.<\/p>\n

And so, after Commissioner Emily Thomas recused herself (due to the proximity of her home to the mosque), Town Attorney Gabrielle Whelan ran through the reasons why the prior decision likely wouldn\u2019t stand up to legal scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to say that there would be an annual compliance review in perpetuity,\u201d Whelan said.<\/p>\n

\"JavedRETURNING TO CIVIC LIFE \u2013 Former Monte Sereno mayor Javed Ellahie said parking regulations shouldn\u2019t be reversed-engineered as a way to block people from attending religious services.
(Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

This wouldn\u2019t be acceptable, she said, since Los Gatos doesn\u2019t subject its other religious groups to this level of oversight.<\/p>\n

But, because at least one other worship site does have a three-year compliance review period, staff suggested this approach could be a way to keep tabs on the Muslim group without treating it unfairly.<\/p>\n

However, amongst the changes, staff tried to slip in a major additional restriction to Islamic activities allowed during morning hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt previously spoke to \u2018hours of operation\u2019 in general,\u201d Whelan said, adding staff decided to make a distinction between prayer and other activities in the pre-dawn hours.<\/p>\n

The new rules would say that \u201cworship\u201d is allowed in the morning at the Farley Road site\u2014but nothing else. That represented a major new restriction beyond what Planning Commissioners had even asked for.<\/p>\n

But the biggest change was the finding that limiting the number of worshipers to the number of vehicles allowed in the mosque parking lot was inappropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not able to locate any other conditional use permits that had a limitation on the number of vehicles,\u201d Whelan said, adding it was sort of an ineffective tool anyhow, since public parking is allowed on both sides of their street.<\/p>\n

And the restriction on amplified sound had to go, too, since staff couldn\u2019t find another religious-institution CUP that included such a requirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaff is proposing an alternative condition that would provide that the applicant must comply with the Town\u2019s noise ordinance,\u201d Whelan said.<\/p>\n

\"RobPUSHING-BACK \u2013 Stump, a longtime campaigner for fire safety, has been looking for creative ways to cap mosque attendance.
(Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

Planning Commission had hoped that the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department would be available to provide traffic control training to mosque officials. However, the Department wasn\u2019t interested in taking on this job, so that point had to be reworked. Now WVMA is being asked to look for an outside organization to offer such classes.<\/p>\n

Because the document had been redlined so much, Planning Commission voted to reopen the public hearing\u2014but not until after Commissioner Rob Stump suggested a new 720-person straight attendance cap.<\/p>\n

That was essentially a new approach to arrive at the same numbers\u2014derived from a maximum-calculation of an average of four people per vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(It was unclear if Stump was envisioning the number rising to a maximum of 920 people allowed at all times, once WVMA renovates their lot to include more parking spaces\u2014which is a requirement.)<\/p>\n

And he put in a max capacity of 869 into his motion for during Ramadan. That comes from the number of seated individuals allowed in the building under total occupancy rules. However, it represents a reduction during the holy-month-of-fasting nights\u2014from Stump\u2019s prior motion, where he brought up the idea of using the \u201cmax capacity\u201d\u2014meaning up to 1,217 standing individuals. (His new motion would currently be an increase of 149 people during Ramadan mornings from what was previously supported unanimously\u2014but actually a reduction of 51 people when the parking lot is improved, as last meeting\u2019s version allowed for 920 people at that point, pre-dawn.)<\/p>\n

This set off a tense back-and-forth between Stump and Vice Chair Jeffrey Barnett, who was leading the meeting in Chair Kendra Burch\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

\"founderWVMA FOUNDER \u2013 Razi Mohiuddin sought to nudge Planning Commission towards the mosque\u2019s position with polite, considered requests.
(Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

Barnett asked staff about the legality of Stump\u2019s new attempt to cap the number of Muslims coming into the Farley Road neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Staff said at least two other local religious institutions have parking limits that use a ratio of 1-to-4, so it might be defensible.<\/p>\n

Barnett asked if there are those that don\u2019t have such limits. Staff confirmed some don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Plus, the Town Attorney noted, even if you do put in a restriction based on parking, you\u2019d have to justify it, based on how RLUIPA works.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got 3,500 people a week travelling through that neighborhood,\u201d Stump said. \u201cThey could have 3,500 people at their site a day. So, what is really the restriction?\u201d<\/p>\n

Barnett said he stood in strong opposition to Stump\u2019s revived attendance cap.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re interfering with the First Amendment and the RLUIPA rights,\u201d he said, suggesting the consequences for violating those could be severe. \u201cI think that those need to be deeply considered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already the NAACP has warned Planning Commission not to make a decision rooted in Islamophobia.<\/p>\n

The motion to restrict attendance based on parking spaces\u2014passed 3-2, with Joseph Sordi, Susan Burnett and Stump in support; Barnett and Adam Mayer voted against.<\/p>\n

\"\"VOTING \u2013 Commissioners supported new attendance restrictions, after the prior proposed rules were found to likely be against federal law. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

Speaking first after the public hearing was reopened, Razi Mohiuddin, the WVMA founder, spoke politely with focused change requests to the new motion.<\/p>\n

He called the three-year compliance review period too onerous. And he said changing the wording of the opening-hours rules to say congregants can\u2019t be on the premises except for \u201cworship\u201d would expose them to the risk of people questioning whether certain types of fellowship really should be considered valid Islamic worship.<\/p>\n

Currently they have a prayer service followed by a brief talk and a small discussion group, he said, adding on some occasions they\u2019ll even have coffee together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are under intense scrutiny,\u201d he said, adding he\u2019s afraid people will use this as a tool to come in and say, \u201c\u2018Ah, you can only pray and you must leave.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The prior Friday, they had to spend time with the deputy fire marshal, after yet another complaint, he said.<\/p>\n

And at this point, they\u2019d rather just have a flat closure time, Mohiuddin continued, rather than language that gives worshipers a specific period of time to vacate the premises, as that\u2019s hard to manage.<\/p>\n

In regards to capacity, Mohiuddin pointed out that 869 is not the ceiling\u20141,217 is.<\/p>\n

Stump\u2019s interrogation of the Muslim leader on this point was so off-putting to Barnett that the Vice Chair cut him off with, \u201cI think he understands the question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohiuddin maintained his composure, asking that the total number of worshipers explicitly include offsite parking arrangements\u2014something that was previously discussed\u2014punctuating his request with, \u201c\u2014if that\u2019s okay with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Farley Road neighbors made it clear that they feel the Town isn\u2019t going far enough to restrict traffic in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Jim Ratcliff, speaking over Zoom, said he and the other residents have seen little in the way of meaningful enforcement. He doesn\u2019t want the Town to remove the ongoing compliance review period.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to be able to amplify outside,\u201d he said. \u201cI want limited activities on the weekend\u2026I want a cap on the cars per day. I want some relief from this traffic\u2026There needs to be a balance here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Monte Sereno mayor Javed Ellahie, who is Muslim, pointed out that the parking restrictions on other worship facilities have nothing to do with capping the number of attendees to the facility. They are simply that: parking restrictions, he said\u2014adding the regulations can\u2019t be used in reverse as a weapon.<\/p>\n

He asked people to consider if it was reasonable to expect you could say, \u201cClose the church down!,\u201d if they had more people at a service than their parking ratio specifies.<\/p>\n

Another Farley Road resident suggested closing parking on one side of the street and instituting permit parking in the neighborhood might be another solution.<\/p>\n

And a speaker questioned whether WVMA is really facing financial burdens, since it\u2019s in the process of buying a former Mormon church at 20125 Bollinger Road in Cupertino\u2014hoping to come up with millions of dollars to pay for that by June 12 (they\u2019d raised around $339,000 by our print deadline, which rose to $539,000 by May 20<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In the end, Planning Commission decided to punt the decision to the May 21 meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HASHING IT OUT – Rob Stump (foreground, left) speaks with Jeffrey Barnett during an intermission at Planning Commission,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[135465,135466,117926,41265,124757,124758,124759,88,90,89,23196],"class_list":["post-325590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-jeffrey-barnett","tag-lgmspd","tag-mosque","tag-planning-commission","tag-razi-mohiuddin","tag-rluipa","tag-rob-stump","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-sb-330"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}