Council Approves Islamic Center Location

The Plymouth City Council unanimously approved a conditional use permit for a new Northwest Islamic Community Center to be located at an otherwise closed portion of the Federal Post Office on Plymouth Blvd.

An amendment was added to the motion approved to allow the Center to move forward with finding its new home in Plymouth. The amendment was to not allow amplified sound at the Center.

A crowded city council chambers eventually thinned out from standing room only during a three-hour council meeting Aug. 23. The discussion for the Center's proposal came at the end of the meeting where many of those who had turned in cards to speak before the council declined to comment on record.

Mayor Kelli Slavik told the crowd gathered that the comments that would be permitted during the meeting would be about land use, noise, parking, drainage or lighting only. With more than 30 cards turned in, only about nine spoke, none with negative comments.

The major issues that were addressed was parking and any peak times for the Post Office use and the Center's use of the building and parking lot.

The Conditional Use Permit approved was to allow a religious institution at this site. This was the source of more contention at a public hearing six days before at a Plymouth Planning Commission meeting in which more than 100 people attended.

The post office building has 10,500 square feet available listed at $800,000 for sale. It had been marked for closure, but will now continue to operate with a firewall separating it from the Center and its own activities.

The new Center will include Islamic religious activities, education and community outreach programs, but a host of community service opportunities also.

(More comment and updates to come.)