A proposed Muslim condo complex is sparking heated debate in Thornhill Woods, with hundreds of residents cramming a raucous community meeting Tuesday night to speak out about the development.

Both religious tensions and concerns about density have been stoked by the proposal, which would place two 17-storey residential towers, retail space and 61 townhouses in the low-density neighbourhood.

The Islamic Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat (ISIJ) has submitted a proposal to rezone and develop its 11-hectare property at 9000 Bathurst St., south of Rutherford Rd. The new Islamic community would be built around the Jaffari Centre mosque.

“This project is very important to us,” ISIJ president Shabbir Jeraj said in a news release. “It is a realization of a long-awaited dream and the vision of the members of the community, many of whom initially participated in the purchase of this property some twenty years ago.”

Inside Vaughan City Hall on Tuesday night, hundreds of concerned residents and mosque supporters were forced into overflow rooms as the council chambers were packed wall-to-wall.

More than 3,250 people have signed a petition against the proposal. In an interview, the director of the group that launched the petition said religion has nothing to do with their opposition to the project.

“This is a dispute related to zoning change and land use,” said Rom Koubi, interim chair of the Association to Preserve Thornhill Woods, who lives some 120 metres from the proposed development.

Koubi said the neighbourhood couldn’t handle any more density, with Bathurst St. already clogged with traffic and parked cars. Sewer systems and other infrastructure have also reached their limit, he said.

“Add another 1,400 people, another 500 living units, and it’s going to create chaos. The infrastructure cannot support it,” Koubi said.

One of the highrise buildings will be dedicated for seniors. The units will be subsidized, prompting fears in some local residents that their properties will be devalued.

Nitza Shamiss, who lives across the street from the mosque, said she will sell her home if the proposal is approved.

“Why would I want to be next to a refugee community?” she asked. “When you pay for a certain kind of house in a certain kind of neighbourhood, you want the real estate value to hold.”

Sandra Yeung Racco, Vaughan city councillor for the area, said the onus is on the developer to convince the city to approve their proposal.

“They need to show to us why it is appropriate for us to allow them to come in with high-density residential in that area,” she said. “I am very aware of residents’ concerns.”

She said the city has received hundreds of phone calls, emails and letters opposing the project. Racco said she was concerned the proposal was igniting religious tensions among some residents.

“We need to look at it from a planning perspective. I don’t want to see one culture pitted against another culture. That’s not where we are. The city of Vaughan is a very diverse city,” she said.

The Jaffari Centre is near Ner Israel Yeshiva of Toronto, an Orthodox Jewish school for boys. The neighbourhood remains predominantly Jewish, although the Muslim community is growing.

The units would not be exclusive to Muslims, but the ISIJ expects the proximity to the mosque will attract primarily residents of Islamic faith.

Shams Dharsi, 56, lives just a two-minute drive from the Jaffari Centre but hopes to move in if the development is approved. He said the outrage over the proposal is misplaced.

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“We have been good neighbours,” he said. “Why should they be concerned? We are in a country where we honour each other’s privileges, don’t we? We are in a multicultural society.”

The ISIJ has said the development would contribute to the local economy by creating jobs and incomes in the surrounding community. Playing fields and tennis courts will be open to all residents of Vaughan.

There is at least one other Muslim-oriented community in Vaughan, the Ahmadiyya “Peace Village” of 150 semi-detached and detached houses west of Jane St. and north of Major Mackenzie Dr. It was thought to be the first community built upon the religious needs of Islamic immigrants in North America when it was built in 2000.

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