Mosque height restriction to stand (Whine alert)

Bradenton Herald ^ | 2/2/2005 | Richard Dymond

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A U.S Department of Justice investigation has turned up no evidence that Sarasota County violated the law in restricting the height of a local mosque.

The ruling came in a letter to the Sarasota County Attorneys office.

"The Department of Justice has now completed its investigation," wrote Steven H. Rosenbaum, Chief of the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in the Civil Rights Division. "We will be taking no further action on this matter."

The investigation came after Sarasota County turned down the request of the Islamic Society of Sarasota and Bradenton for a 64-foot dome on its proposed new mosque, said Gary K. Oldehoff, Sarasota assistant county attorney.

The mosque would be located at 4350 Lockwood Ridge Road, site of the present, smaller worship center.

The county did approve a 40-foot dome, five feet above the county's height restriction of 35 feet, but not 64 feet, Oldehoff said.

"We are certainly pleased with the result," Oldehoff said. "I think what we demonstrated to the Justice Department was that the Islamic Center was considered like any other house of worship in the county."

The Justice Department ruling is disappointing, said Ahmed Bedier, communications director for the Florida Office of the Council of American-Islamic relations.

"This would have been a non-issue had it been a church or synagogue," Bedier said. "No one would have objected to it."

The Islamic Society now must decide to accept the county's approval to build a roughly 14,000-square foot facility with a 40-foot dome or consider another site, Bedier said.

"I think they will go ahead and build at the smaller height," Bedier said. "their current structure cannot accomodate their growing community."

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The county did approve a 40-foot dome, five feet above the county's height restriction of 35 feet, but not 64 feet, Oldehoff said.

Do any FReepers live in the county who could oppose the 5-foot overage? If the rule is 40 feet that should be the limit. Anyone with a few hundred bucks could likely delay the construction for another year or two in the courts.

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Mosques have to be taller than other buildings, because Muslims have to be better than infidels, Arabs over blacks, men over women, etc.

It's Islamofascist chauvinism.