Proposed mosque wins Temecula Planning Commission’s support
A proposed mosque in Temecula has won the unanimous support of the local planning commission after more than five hours of often-heated public testimony.
Critics assailed the project as promoting terrorism and traffic tie-ups. But commissioners ruled late Wednesday that the new religious center complied with local laws and would be aesthetically impressive.
“Many good people came to support it — Christians, Jews, Baha’is, you name it,” Hadi Nael, chairman of the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, said Thursday. “I’m proud of that as an American citizen. It shows that justice prevails.
“The opposition is very minimal,” he said. “They just have very loud voices. We have beautiful people in this valley.”
The meeting began at 6 p.m. and lasted until nearly midnight, with most of the time taken up with people speaking for or against the center; the sides were about evenly divided, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
Planned Islamic centers have sparked protests in other parts of the country, including near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York.
In the Temecula Valley, Imam Mahmoud Harmoush has denounced violence. His congregation of about 135 families has coexisted without incident in Riverside County for years. It wants a larger and better space than the warehouse it rents on a property shared with a manufacturer of water-filtration systems.
The proposed 24,943-square-foot mosque is designed with Mediterranean-style architecture, two minarets and would rise as tall as 43 feet. It would occupy a 4.32-acre site on Nicolas Road about two miles east of Chaparral High School.
Opponents can still appeal the project to the City Council.
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