The US Department of Justice is suing the city of Sterling Heights, Michigan, alleging it violated federal law in 2015 when it denied a proposal to build a mosque in the city.



The 20-page complaint filed in US district court says the city discriminated against the American Islamic Community Center (AICC) on the basis of religion, when it refused to approve a land use request for a proposed mosque.

The proposal, which drew consistent, visceral protests in the suburban Detroit community, was slated to cover five adjoining parcels of land in the city. In denying the request, the complaint alleges, Sterling Heights imposed a “substantial burden” on the center’s ability to exercise its religious freedom.

“The Constitution protects the rights of religious communities to create the institutions and physical spaces they need to observe and practice their faith free from discriminatory barriers,” said Vanita Gupta, principal deputy assistant attorney general and head of the DoJ’s civil rights division, in a statement.

According to the complaint, the community center currently operates out of a building in the nearby city of Madison Heights, however the facility has become “inadequate for the needs of the AICC”, citing washroom space and an area fit for educational activities and special events.

“Additional space is necessary for the AICC to offer programs for families to keep them involved in the community,” the complaint says, adding Sterling Heights is a more convenient location because a majority of the center’s members live there.

The saga dates to 2014, when a board member for the center purchased land that was envisioned for a mosque. The following year, an application for the site was submitted that included a roughly 20,000 sq ft place of worship and 130 off-street parking spaces. The application first had to be approved by the city’s planning commission.

That’s when attention to the proposal ballooned.

At the August 2015 meeting, the Sterling Heights city planner gave a presentation about the proposal, followed by a public comment period where 50 people spoke against the proposal. Only seven supported the project.

“Many of the comments were directed at the religion of the Petitioner,” according to the government’s complaint, “including a plea to ‘Remember 9/11,’ statements that Christians would not be allowed to build a church in Iraq, and statements that property values would drop if a mosque were built in the neighborhood.”

The following week, at a city council meeting, opposition to the project swelled. The complaint says one resident at the meeting “held up a picture of a woman wearing a garment that covered her head and stated that he did not want to ‘be near people like this’”.

As pressure mounted, the city’s mayor also spoke out against the proposal. In a message posted on Facebook, the complaint says, Michael Taylor wrote: “I will do EVERYTHING in my power to protect, support and defend the Chaldean population in Sterling Heights ... I have nothing to do with this mosque and do not want it built there.”

At a meeting the following month, the city planner reversed his recommendation to approve the project, and the planning commission subsequently denied the permit.

The justice department is asking in the complaint for an order that requires Sterling Heights to:

Declare the city’s policies violate federal law for religious land use

Train city personnel and establish procedures to address religious land use complaints

Not impose a substantial burden on the religious exercises of the AICC or to apply laws that violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act

In a statement, Sterling Heights officials stressed that it has a “solid reputation” for inclusiveness and tolerance that’s “reflected in a wide variety of places of worship across the city”.

“For many years, the city has been known in Metro Detroit as a premier community – in large part because of its diverse population representing a wide variety of cultures, ethnicities and race,” the statement said.

The city said it has “fully” cooperated with the justice department and is “surprised and disappointed in its decision to initiate this lawsuit at this time”.

“The city maintains that the AICC application for special approval land use to construct a mosque was considered and denied by the city’s planning commission based on established land use criteria including the incompatibility with adjoining uses, insufficient parking, as well as overall size and height of the building, and not emotional feelings tied to religious beliefs either for or against the applicant,” the statement said.

“The city welcomes the AICC along with any other religious groups to Sterling Heights and we will continue an open dialog to address areas of disagreement with respect to land use.”