{"id":336130,"date":"2026-05-28T17:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/336130\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:01:09","slug":"planning-commission-passes-a-mosque-cup-with-additional-restrictions-los-gatan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/336130\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning Commission passes a mosque CUP\u00a0with additional restrictions | Los Gatan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Planning<\/a>REVIEWING – Joseph Sordi flips through paperwork related to the West Valley Muslim Association\u2019s CUP modification request as his fellow Planning Commissioners look on. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

A few weeks back, Planning Commission unanimously supported a CUP modification for the West Valley Muslim Association\u2019s Farley Road mosque\u2014concerning a proposed extension of hours for prayer and formalizing other regulations. Both the Islamic organization and a neighborhood group found things to dislike in the text.<\/p>\n

After Town staff decided the initial conditions were probably against federal anti-religious discrimination rules, the item was brought back to Planning Commission with additional restrictions; some which annoyed the Farley Road Neighborhood Coalition, and some which WVMA took issue with.<\/p>\n

And then during a May 21 special meeting, Planning Commission finalized the update in less than an hour, passing it 4-1, with only Susan Burnett dissenting. (Both Kenra Burch and Emily Thomas were absent\u2014Thomas had recused herself at prior meetings).<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 365 days a year, there\u2019s going to be action going on,\u201d Burnett, a former nurse and environmental consultant, said in an interview with the Los Gatan, making a health case for voting against. \u201cHow can babies get to sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnett said the mosque has been operating successfully for years within the current hour limits. Already the traffic is too crazy, with headlights beaming into the houses in the area, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think they were being put in a place where they couldn\u2019t practice (their faith),\u201d she said. \u201cThey bought it in 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim Ratcliff, of the Farley Road Neighborhood Coalition, said, from the start, they\u2019ve been asking the Town for protection\u2014by way of a modified CUP for WVMA\u2014in order to foster compatibility. She says this has nothing to do with religion.<\/p>\n

\"KimKim Ratcliff. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Farley Road Neighborhood Coalition\u2019s goal is to protect our neighborhood\u2019s safety and quality of life while finding a path toward harmony,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Planning Commission\u2019s decision represents a critical first step and a strong foundation for protecting the town and the neighbors, while aiming to provide a sustainable path forward for WVMA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnett told the newspaper some of the residents have cancer\u2014and other ailments\u2014and need their restorative sleep.<\/p>\n

She incorrectly called WVMA the \u201cWest Valley Mosque Association\u201d twice, while explaining her perspective from the dais.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the part that bothered the organization\u2019s founder Razi Mohiuddin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are frankly disappointed in both the Planning Commission as well as the Town staff, in terms of the onerous conditions that have been put into place over here, which leads the Town exposed to RLUIPA violations,\u201d he said, referencing the legislation that protects religious groups from having land use decisions weaponized against them. \u201cOur plan right now is to follow the process, which is to appeal to the Town Council, and then determine whether we will get relief there, or if not, we will pursue all legal means necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Town staff went above and beyond the wishes of the Planning Commission, which had supported an increase in hours of operation, with a variety of strings attached. Los Gatos officials specified that the only thing Muslims are allowed to do during certain hours is essentially pray, or else they can face consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not asking for exceptions; we\u2019re asking for equal terms,\u201d Mohiuddin said. \u201cWhat the Town staff and the Town Planning Commission has done is created a tremendous challenge\u2014for themselves, to be honest with you. Because these are tremendous RLUIPA violations, and we have a number of organizations that will review this. And we will pursue all legal means.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says the strict approach to a slight hours-extension request to be able to legally honor their beliefs\u2014particularly during the month of Ramadan\u2014is setting up a \u201close-lose-lose\u201d situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy? Because if we\u2019re not allowed to practice our faith, then our natural inclination will be to actually sell this property and move some other place,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if we decide to do that\u2014which is not what we want to do\u2026no other church or school will buy this facility, given what (we) have gone through in the last few meetings over here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohiuddin says they\u2019d likely end up selling to a developer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd developers\u2014more than likely\u2014would try to maximize the profit on this property,\u201d he said, bringing up SB 4, a state law brought in to help generate housing units at sites owned by religious institutions. \u201cThat will allow us to build probably 150 units on this property, as an example. And that may be the way that we maximize our ability to profit, so that we can buy another place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is where it is headed. And it\u2019s very unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Farley Road Neighborhood Coalition has continually raised issues with the mosque\u2019s current and planned operations. The residents say the\u2019ve seen their right to enjoy their own properties slowly erode, since the WVMA quietly moved into the neighborhood a few years back.<\/p>\n

Mohiuddin argued that an additional condition\u2014a left turn only sign requirement added at the May 22 meeting\u2014will create more safety problems, not less.<\/p>\n

This could expose the Town to lawsuits, according to Mohiuddin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"REVIEWING – Joseph Sordi flips through paperwork related to the West Valley Muslim Association\u2019s CUP modification request as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[23132,117925,36697,138833,117926,41265,88,90,89,117927],"class_list":["post-336130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-cup","tag-farley-road-neighborhood-coalition","tag-islam","tag-joseph-sordi","tag-mosque","tag-planning-commission","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-west-valley-muslim-association"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336130","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=336130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}