Traffic Engineer: Not Enough Parking at Proposed Mosque

The Paramus Planning Board heard testimony Thursday from a traffic engineer, who said a plan to open a mosque on Farview Terrace wouldn't provide enough parking.

Hal Simoff, who was hired by Stanley and Selma Mitchel of , conducted a study observing parking needs at mosques in Teaneck and Boonton. Given that the mosques he observed were about twice the size of the proposed mosque at 28 Farview Terrace, his firm calculated that the Paramus house of worship would need between 90 and 130 parking spaces.

There are 32 spaces provided on-site. The applicant, the El-Zahra Foundation, has an agreement to use an additional 25 parking spaces at the nearby , but Simoff said it was more likely that motorists would park in the streets near the mosque, since the Post is 400 feet away.

Parking and traffic were the main concerns about the mosque application, as laid out by Francine Mitchel-Winters, who owns Mitchel Realty with her parents. Mitchel Realty is located at 22 Madison Ave., and shares a border with the proposed mosque lot.

"It is clear that a house of worship will generate more need for parking," she said.

Mitchel-Winters said she was concerned that worshipers would park in her parking lot if there wasn't enough space in the mosque lot, especially since there's no barrier between the properties.

The application will continue at the June 16 meeting of the Planning Board.