A Muslim woman responds to anti-Islamic epithets by saying, “We love you all,” as she leaves Sterling Heights City Hall on Sept. 10, 2015 after the planning commission unanimously rejected a proposed 20,500-square-foot mosque Steve Friess

The 9-0 vote came after the Sterling Heights Planning Director Don Mende, stunned the mosque’s developer by declaring the 20,500-square-foot, nearly 60-foot-tall structure as “not harmonious with the existing buildings in the area” and asserting that the developer “was not responsive” to his concerns.

“Rather than fitting in harmoniously, the structure would dominate the landscape,” Mende told the nine-member board. “No changes in the architectural plan were made to improve the compatibility with the development.”

Jeff Chehab, a board member with the American Islamic Community Center seeking to build the mosque, then told the board that he was “baffled” by Mende’s statements because he had complied with a list of 23 requests for changes Mende had demanded. “I’m not sure what happened from last week to now,” Chehab said. “Not allowing this mosque to be built is in violation of my Constitutional rights. We have given the City of Sterling Heights everything they’ve asked for.”

Later he added, “Maybe public pressure is mounting on the Planning Commission, but this is not about public pressure. It’s about the rule of law.”

The board voted on a motion to reject the mosque without any discussion, and Mende was never asked to respond to Chehab’s complaint that he had been blindsided. Neither Chehab nor Mende were available for comment after the vote.

There’s no doubt there has been intense public pressure. Since the plan went public earlier this summer, both the Planning Commission and the City Council have been deluged by calls, emails and public comments urging the rejection of the proposal. At a City Council meeting last month, several speakers spoke of their disgust, suspicion and fear of Muslims, a fast-growing minority in Sterling Heights. The Detroit suburbs boast the largest population of Muslims in the U.S., but the region has long also been popular among other oppressed ethnic groups including Chaldean Catholics, an ancient Christian sect also known historically as ethnic Assyrians and originating from Iraq.