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Judge sides with Troy Muslim community in fight to open Mosque in Troy
Troy officials have maintainted a zoning ordinance blocks the opening of religious sites in certain locations - but a federal judge has ruled that those zones are an unfair burden and violates their rights.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - The city of Troy's zoning ordinances placed unfair burdens on a group that attempted to build a mosque in the city, violating their rights to establish a place of worship, a U.S. judge ruled last week.
According to U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds in Detroit, Troy officials used zoning ordinances to impede the establishing of a religious site. The ruling comes more than four years after the Adam Community Center attempted to establish a place of worship before being denied.
Michigan's chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations welcomed the decision.
"Even though our 2018 case remains undecided at this time, we are hopeful that the decision in the DOJ’s case will lead to a quick resolution of the outstanding issues in our case and that our clients will be able to open the doors to their mosque in time for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan that begins in April," said Attorney Amy V. Doukoure.
A building was acquired by the Adam Community Center in 2018 following a nine-year search for an appropriate place to house community events and a place of worship. While zoning code in the city allows for non-religious places of assembly to be used without further approval.
But the city's ordinances place "restrictions unique to places of worship," so the group needed to seek further approval to operate the building. They were denied on June 19, 2018.
RELATED: Troy sued over denying mosque plans due to zoning
Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, attorneys sued the city. On March 18, 2022, a judge ruled in favor of the DOJ.
According to the judge, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) "was enacted to protect assemblies like Adam from discrimination in zoning laws that ‘lurks behind such vague and universally applicable reasons as traffic, aesthetics, or ‘not consistent with the city’s land use plan."
"I am very pleased that the Court recognized Troy’s unequal treatment of places of worship and the impact on Troy’s Muslim community," said Dawn Ison, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. "My office always seeks to work cooperatively with local governments to resolve civil rights disputes. However, when that is not possible, we will not hesitate to prosecute those cases."